Mr Binod Rayamajhee

Binod Rayamajhee is a postdoctoral research associate at Prof. Torsten's lab at UNSW since 2024. Binod completed his PhD on "Investigation of genotypes and intracellular microbiome composition of Acanthamoeba species and the effect of intracellular microbes on the pathogenesis of amoebal host" under the supervision of Prof. Mark Willcox, Assoc. Prof. Nicole Carnt, and Prof. Fiona L. Henriquez from the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW. During his PhD, Binod investigated the prevalence of Acanthamoeba spp. in public lagoons water along the four coastal lagoons on the east coast of the greater Sydney region using a comprehensive metagenomic approach. Additionally, subsequent studies within his thesis assessed the impact of naturally acquired viable intracellular bacteria by Acanthamoeba on the development of Acanthamoeba keratitis in animal models. During his cross-disciplinary thesis project, Binod collaborated with clinicians, government institutions, water professionals, and keratitis patients.

Apart from ocular pathogens and host-microbe interaction, Binod has a special interest in infectious diseases such as Scrub Typhus, nosocomial infections, and the impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases, with further interests in investigating the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from One Health Perspective in resource-scarce settings.