October 31, 2017

The first ever Philly Phage Phestival was held in the PISB Atrium on Saturday October 21^st. The festival brought together students from three universities and faculty and staff from 14 regional institutions to celebrate all things related to the SEA-PHAGES program. 

SEA-PHAGES (Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science) is an academic year-long discovery-based undergraduate research course that is jointly administered by Graham Hatfull's group at the University of Pittsburgh and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Faculty and staff from three colleges that participate in the SEA-PHAGES program locally, University of the Sciences, Lehigh University and Drexel, partnered to create the Philly Phage Phestival with funding from a HHMI grant that was awarded to Drexel.

The Phestival featured a keynote talk from Dr. Welkin Pope from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as two student poster sessions and a poster competition. Breakout sessions included a panel discussion on continuing research for undergraduates and a faculty discussion about the successes and challenges of the SEA-PHAGES program. The Phestival was a great success and the organizing committee plans to make it an annual event, expanding next year to include students from additional regional institutions.