From Bench to Fish Farm: Translating Phage Biology into Therapeutic Solutions for Moritella viscosa

A seminar from CANS - Centre for New Antibacterial Strategies. 

Dr. Yang Shen is Director of Research and Development at ACD Pharma, where he leads the development of bacteriophage-based solutions for aquaculture and food safety applications.

Trained as a veterinary and then molecular biologist and biochemist, Dr. Yang has extensive experience in bacteriophage biology, phage engineering, antimicrobial technologies, and translational research.

Throughout his career in academia and industry, he has authored more than 50 (10 of them as a lead author) peer-reviewed publications and has contributed to the development of innovative phage technologies spanning diagnostics, therapeutics, and bioprocess development.

At ACD Pharma, his current work focuses on translating fundamental phage biology into practical solutions for controlling bacterial diseases in aquaculture. 

Organizer from CANS:
Associate professor Gabriel Magno de Freitas Almeida, head of the Marine Bioprospecting research group.

CANS day 2026

4-5 November, lunch-to-lunch with scientific updates and social networking! 

We are happy to invite you to CANS Day 2026, which will take place on 4–5 November 2026 in the MH building at UiT. This year’s CANS Day will be organised as a lunch-to-lunch.

There will be two tracks: 

1. Drug Discovery
2. Evolution

Please see the attached tentative program for details.

Registration and abstract submission

The deadline for registration and abstract submission is 25 September 2026. Please register and submit abstracts here:

https://nettskjema.no/a/cans-day-2026

We hope many of you will join and contribute to making this a lively and useful CANS Day.

Invited speakers: 

• Angus Buckling, University of Exeter - microbial evolution
• Stephan A. Sieber, Technical University of Munich - drug discovery
• Harry Thorpe, University of Oslo
• Hege Salvesen-Blix, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
• Christine Årdal, Norwegian Institute of Public Health

Full programme and venue to be announced. Day 2 will include a panel discussion.

Abstract deadline: September 25

Organising committee

• Veronika K. Pettersen
• Elizabeth G Aarag Fredheim
• Yannik Karl Heinz Schneider
• Jakob Peder Pettersen
• Natasa Skalko-Basnet
• Cindy Jittrapan Given
• Juliana Miranda Tatara

Contact person for the 2026 CANS Day

Veronika K. Pettersen
veronika.k.pettersen@uit.no

CANS-Professor Receives Honorary Award

“His work has strengthened both the field and the health service, and his contributions have had a direct impact on patient care, preparedness and public health”, the jury says.

Professor and microbiologist, Harstad native, and—above all—a standard-bearer in the fight against antibiotic resistance, Arnfinn Sundsfjord, received the Norwegian Society for Medical Microbiology’s Honorary Award for 2026.

The award citation states that Sundsfjord was “awarded the prize for his lifelong research, leadership, institution-building, service to society and tireless communication, all of which have had a significant and lasting influence on infectious diseases medicine and microbiology in Norway”.

Fighting antibiotic resistance

For many years, Sundsfjord has also played a key role in building the microbiology community, both at the university and at the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN). Among other roles, he has served for many years as the medical lead for the National Centre for Detection of Antibiotic Resistance (K-res) at UNN.

The UiT veteran has been both Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at UiT and Head of the Department of Microbiology at UNN. Last but not least, he was a key driving force behind the establishment of CANS, which he also led from its launch in 2019 until December 2025.

“I greatly value an honorary award from the national professional community. It is also an acknowledgement that our combined professional environment at UNN and UiT represents a nationally significant centre of expertise in the fight against antibiotic resistance,” Sundsfjord said about receiving the award. 

The prize was presented by Associate Professor Karianne Wiger Gammelsrud at the spring meeting of the Norwegian Society for Medical Microbiology, part of the Norwegian Medical Association.

https://www.legeforeningen.no/foreningsledd/fagmed/norsk-forening-for-medisinsk-mikrobiologi/ 

The Honorary Award is presented to an infectious diseases specialist or microbiologist who, through research or practical work, has made a significant contribution to the mapping, prevention, diagnosis and/or treatment of infectious diseases in Norway or abroad.

Research award to CANS professor

Professor Christian Lentz from the Department of Medical Biology has been awarded the Research Prize 2026 from the Faculty of Health Sciences. 

Lentz' groundbreaking work on the identification and characterization of bacterial enzymes, and his tireless work to increase the flow of external funding, has not gone unnoticed. Additionally, he won the award for strengthening the research community in the Health Faculty, and by encouraging cross-sectoral research cooperation. 

"Thanks to all those who have carried out the research and made this possible. Thanks to the research group (The Host-Microbe research group) for a great working environment, and thank you to CANS", he stated at the ceremony on Friday 21 August.  

Congratulations!

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CANS Research Topics

CANS currently involves thirteen research groups located at three faculties and covers topics within marine bioprospecting – identification and characterization of new antibacterial activities, design and synthesis of new antibiotics and resistance inhibitors, the evolution and molecular epidemiology of AMR, host-microbe-drug interactions, and antibiotic stewardship.

CANS aims to strengthen current activities, but also support new basic research in novel concepts for sustainable antibacterial activities in AMR-prevention and treatment strategies.

CANS Financing

CANS was financed through UiT and Tromsø Research Foundation (TFS) from 2019-2025.

From 2026-2028, CANS II is financed through the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, and the Faculty of Science and Technology at UiT.

CANS Annual Reports

• Annual Report 2024
• Annual Report 2023
• Annual Report 2022
• Annual Report 2021
• Annual Report 2020

Veronika K. Pettersen  –  Associate Professor

Marius Haugland-Grange  –  Associate Professor

Teppo Rämä  –  Associate Professor

Gunnar Skov Simonsen  –  Professor

Gunbjørg Svineng  –  Dean

Vidar Sørum  –  Dean

Bjørn-Morten Batalden  –  Dean