Biomedical research conference a huge success
The Faculty of Medicine’s research conference, which took place on Wednesday this week, is the largest event of its kind in the Faculty’s calendar attracting nearly 300 staff and students from across the Faculty and beyond.
This annual one-day conference showcases presentations and posters from early career researchers, postgraduate research students and clinical academic trainees, and highlights the depth and breadth of the research being performed by researchers within the Faculty.
The programme was opened by Dean of the Faculty, Professor Iain Cameron , and followed with a mix of oral and poster presentations from researchers across the Academic Units including Cancer Sciences, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Human Development and Health, Primary Care and Population Sciences and the Institute for Life Sciences.
Over thirty oral presentations and one hundred poster presentations took place, with the highlight being a keynote speech by Professor Cyrus Cooper , OBE, FMedSci, who delivered a talk on 'The Lifecourse Epidemiology of Osteoporosis: insights into the Causes and Prevention of Fragility Fractures'.
Following Professor Cooper, Professor John Holloway presented the winners of three research prizes:
- Iain Cameron prize for best research publication by a postdoctoral researcher – Dr Emma Reeves, Cancer Sciences : Functionally distinct ERAP1 allotype combinations distinguish individuals with Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Wessex Medical Research prize for best research publication by a postgraduate research student – Mr Michael Breen, Clinical and Experimental Sciences : Gene Networks Specific for Innate Immunity Define Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Michael Arthur prize for best research publication by a Clinical Academic Trainee – Dr Timothy Hinks , Clinical and Experimental Sciences : Innate and adaptive T cells in asthmatic patients: Relationship to severity and disease mechanisms
Before closing the conference Professor John Holloway announced the prize winners of the day including two oral presenters and four poster presenters:
- Adam Linley, Cancer Sciences – oral presentation winner: Binding of the lectin DC-SIGN to the cell surface B-cell receptor of follicular lymphoma cells provides a universal persistent activating signal
- Marta E. Polak, Clinical and Experimental Sciences – oral presentation winner: In silico modelling of gene regulatory networks in human Langerhanc cells predicts the outcome of CD8 T cell immune stimulation
- Jade Forster, Cancer Sciences – poster presentation winner: Validation of MLPA as a method for the detection of genomic abnormalities in CLL and its implications for clinical use
- Emma Lofthouse, Human Development and Health – poster presentation winner: The role of the intracellular glutamate gradient in driving organic anion transporter function
- Rosanna Smith, Institute for Life Sciences – poster presentation winner: Coordination of gene expression by transcriptional noise
- Leo Westbury, Human Development and Health – poster presentation winner: Number of lifestyle risk factors is associated with increased risk of hospital admission among community-dwelling older people: The Hertfordshire Cohort Study
A cheese and wine reception was a fitting end to the day.