Ifra Ferheen is a researcher at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Department of Environment and Health, Unit of Ecosystem and Health, in the context of the BlueAdapt project. She obtained her PhD in molecular biology and cellular biotechnology from UNICAM/ISS in 2024. Her research interest is focused on analysing the role of plastics in spreading potential pathogenic microorganisms and their antibiotic-resistance genes in aquatic ecosystems using microbiological and molecular methods. During Her PhD, she also contributed to the BlueAdapt project in collaboration with the BC3 Center for Climate Change, where she examined the effects of land-use decisions on bacterial communities in coastal zones. She utilized GIS tools for spatial analysis for mapping the hydrological catchment area of the Italian Lake case study site. She is now actively participating in WP4 and WP5 of the BlueAdapt project, focusing on the microbiological and molecular analysis of targeted pathogens relevant from a One Health perspective and their associated antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs).