The paper “Efficacy of tilapia oral vaccine coupled with nanocomposite biomaterial as carrier for vaccine delivery” by Dr. Mary Nia M. Santos, Head of Aquatic Animal Health Section, Aquaculture Research Development Division, was selected as one of the Outstanding Posters during the Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium +20 (GCA +20) held on 22-25 September 2021.

Nine posters were chosen from more than 150 entries submitted by 25 participating countries. The organizers recognized the work as an outstanding contribution to the conference theme: Biosecurity and Health Management. The other winning entries are from China, Uganda, Mexico, Morocco, Brazil, and France.

Dr. Santos presented her study to a live audience during the Spotlight poster presentation and awarding ceremony. The recognition of outstanding posters was led by Dr. Audun Lem, Deputy Director, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department.

The paper will be featured in the Conference Proceedings and the next edition of the FAO Aquaculture Newsletter (FAN). FAN is a biannual publication printed by the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department and mailed to all FAO regional and country offices and national and regional aquaculture societies. Further, FAO and Asian Institute of Technology invited the authors to present the paper to the Expert workshop on Innovations on Aquatic Health Management towards reduction of Antimicrobial Use (AMU) and mitigation of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) on 26 October 2021. This event opened doors for DA-NFRDI to be recognized by the international community.

The Global Conference on Aquaculture Millennium+20 (GCA +20), organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), is a hybrid meeting with 500 in-person participants in Shanghai, China, and around 700 online participants worldwide. This meeting is conducted every ten years, and the main output will serve as the road map to optimize the role of aquaculture in the future (MNSantos).