Theam Soon Lim is a researcher, senior lecturer and group leader at the Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang, Malaysia. Theam Soon has spent the last decade honing his skills and knowledge in the field of antibody phage display with a special interest in infectious diseases. Theam Soon obtained his doctoral degree at Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in 2009 studying the factors involved in antibody presentation on phage particles. Since then, he has returned to his home country of Malaysia to continue his work on antibody phage display. He is responsible for the setting up of the recombinant antibody technology laboratory at INFORMM, USM as part of the national initiative by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education under the Higher Institution Centres of Excellence program. His group has been active in the development of several antibody phage libraries focusing on naïve and immune repertoires for infectious diseases. His side passion includes the development of affordable biosensor systems using recombinant antibodies and oligonucleotides. He now serves as the Deputy Director of the institute and is based in Penang, Malaysia.
There are many principles and applications of recombinant antibodies for infectious diseases. The preferred technology associated to recombinant antibody generation is mainly phage display. The adaptation of antibodies for infectious diseases is an area lacking information as most literature is focused on oncology or autoimmunity. This project highlights the power and potential of antibody phage display for infectious diseases. In addition to that, supplementary information regarding technologies associated to antibody generation and engineering in the context of infectious disease will also help to provide greater insight to the potential of recombinant antibodies for infectious diseases.