The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
Dr. Andri (Fred) Frediansyah recently completed a Fulbright fellowship at the Whitney Laboratory in the Loesgen Lab. He joined the lab from October 2023 to March 2024 and has written the following about his experience.
I'm Fred (Andri Frediansyah). I am a researcher and research group leader of Microbial Metabolites for Food at the Research Organization for Agriculture and Food (ORPP), National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
My main research focuses on natural products, especially microbes, and studies their biological functions, which include antioxidants. I was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to perform six months of research at the Loesgen Lab (October 2023–March 2024)
Being a Fulbright Scholar provides numerous possibilities to meet highly qualified research experts from Whitney Lab and the University of Florida in general.
I applied for the Fulbright grant to learn more about how the Loesgen Research Group investigates microbes and their natural products by applying bioactivity-guided, metabolomic, and genome mining. Dr. Sandra Loesgen and I met in 2019 at an international conference in Denmark, and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to conduct research in her lab in 2023–2024.
During my time at the Loesgen Lab, I also learned to run high-resolution mass spectrometry (Agilent) on my own with the help of Loesgen members. This is an amazing experience in my life. Additionally, with Sandra’s assistance and her collaborator at the University of Florida, I learned more about how to process and interpret genomic data. I also improve my skills in various chromatography techniques, which encourages me to accept future research methods.
In exchange, I shared my experience and knowledge with Loesgen members regarding the microbial isolation process from environmental samples. I had the opportunity to contribute to the process of microbial isolation from forty nine Antarctic samples with Federica Montesanto, a postdoctoral researcher at the Loesgen Lab, This was also a fantastic experience for me; I shared my knowledge and gained experience by isolating microbes from Antarctica.
During my research stay at Loesgen Lab, I attended an international symposium on Florida Heterocyclic and Synthesis Chemistry (FloHet) at the Department of Chemistry, University of Florida in Gainesville. For around four days I had a great time studying about synthetic chemistry with the other Loesgen Lab members (Bastien, Erin, and Lucas).
I also presented my Fulbright research on a poster. Dr. Sandra also helped me a lot with making beautiful posters.
Whitney Lab also allowed me to gain experience living near the ocean and the Brackish River. Living beside many nice scientists while enjoying nature and fresh air. It is very easy for me to spot wild dolphins, alligators, birds, jellyfish, bivalves, and other biota.
The Fulbright Program, the United States government’s flagship program of international educational and cultural exchange, offers passionate and accomplished students and scholars in more than 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to mutual understanding.