September Newsletter 2015 - University of Nottingham

Transcription

Newsletter/September 2015/Issue 21
School of Life Sciences
Head of School Update
It is a pleasure to provide this Update and celebrate
the start of the new academic year and further success
in SoLS. By the time this Newsletter is published
the new students will have arrived and the returning
students will be well into their new year of study. We
have increased the number of undergraduate students
joining the School this year, which will clearly present
some challenges but is also great news as it shows the
continuing attractiveness of studying in Life Sciences at
Nottingham. Thank you to all of the colleagues involved
in this recruitment success, I know August was very
busy for you, and I am also very grateful to everyone
who has worked hard to welcome these new students
to the School.
I would also like to thank everyone in Life Sciences
for contributing to the excellent results we obtained
in the latest National Student Survey. Further details
about this and other Educational activities are provided
by Michael Randall in another part of this Newsletter,
but it is worth noting here that our Science degrees
are ranked joint 12th out of the 39 categories at
Nottingham, whilst Pharmacy (to which we make a
major contribution) is ranked in joint 6th place.
There have been a number of notable events during
the summer period, many of which are featured later in
this Newsletter. Our colleagues at the Malaysia Campus
celebrated the first graduation from the BSc Biomedical
Sciences degree, and Yvonne Mbaki provides more
detailed comments on this later. It was an interesting
contrast from the Graduation ceremony in Nottingham
earlier in July. Wearing full academic dress at the
ceremony in Malaysia was certainly a challenge, despite
the air-conditioning in the hall.
The School Sports / Brain challenging day was very
enjoyable and well organised, although some of the
more vigorous activities were certainly a challenge
for some. We were pleased to host the Nottingham
Breast Pathology Master Class in the Life Sciences
building. It was organized & presented by members
of the Division of Cancer and Stem Cells Pathology
in the School of Medicine. Several members of the
MRC-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Musculoskeletal
Ageing Research, including Francis Stephens and Aline
Nixon from SoLS, took part in the Great North Run in
September to raise money for ARUK.
There is also an article in this Newsletter from David de
Pomerai, who will soon be retiring from the University.
David will join us for the celebration we have arranged
for the end of October for all of those retiring from
the School in August-October this year and I hope you
will be able to join us at this event to celebrate the
contributions they have all made.
I am afraid I have to finish this update on a very sad
note. We learnt in August of the sudden death from a
heart attack of one of our recent PhD graduates, Dr
Muhammad Qasim Memon. Qasim joined us in 2006 as
a PhD student on secondment from his academic post
in Pakistan and after graduating in early 2010 returned
there to continue his academic career. He was a
diligent, hard-working student and one of the gentlest
and most considerate people I have ever met. It was
an honour and a pleasure to be one of his supervisors.
Those of you who knew Qasim will have your own fond
memories of him. For those who did not meet him, a
comment I received after we heard the news was ‘His
family must be heartbroken. I remember him as a
genuinely decent, kind, courteous person – a nice guy.’
When he studied here, his wife, second daughter and 2
sons lived here with him. I had the pleasure of meeting
his sons soon after they arrived who at that stage were
about 6 and 9 years of age. They were two of the most
polite young men I have ever met and a great credit
to their parents. They must be devastated by their loss
but I hope the knowledge
that their father is
fondly remembered in
Nottingham will be some
comfort to them.
Ian Macdonald
Dr Muhammad
Qasim Memon
Further research funding success includes grant awards
to the value of £310k from BBSRC, F. Hoffman-La
Roche and Alzheimer’s Research UK to Olivier Hanotte,
Kim Hardie and Helen Knight. In addition, Nigel Minton
is part of an international team awarded more than
$3.2 million from the US National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases to determine the effectiveness
of a new treatment for Clostridium difficile infection,
one of the most common hospital-acquired infections.
www.nottingham.ac.uk/lifesciences 1
School of Life Sciences Newsletter
Technical Update
Educational Update
Page 1
Head of School
Update
Page 2
Educational
Update
Page 3- 5
Techincal
Update
Page 6
Athena SWAN
Page 6
Staff
Development
Page 7
Spotlight on
Paget’s disease
research
Page 8-14
SoLS News
Page 15
International
News
Page 15-16
SoLS Notices
Page 17-19
SoLS Events
Page 20-21
Tribute to . . .
Page 22-31
Conference
Reports
Page 32-34
New Starters
Page 35-36
Grant Successes
Page 36
Grant Awards
Although our students (and I guess
some of our relations) work on the
basis that “the lecturers” dust down
the blackboards, shut up shop on
June 20th and disappear to Tuscany
for 3 months of book writing and
sampling Chianti only to reappear on
Monday 21st September, a lot has
happened. Over the summer we
received excellent student evaluations
of our science courses. From the
annual National Student Satisfaction
survey our recent graduates reported
that 91% were satisfied with our
undergraduate science degree
courses and this is an excellent
outcome. The level of satisfaction has
remained stable at this high level for
a number of years, and includes the
information of Life Sciences. The is a
really good outcome and this places
us 6th out of the 39 schools in the
university for our average score and
given that we are one of the largest
schools this is a great achievement,
reflecting the efforts and dedication
of all staff in the school. It was really
great reading the comments to see
the appreciation of dedicated and
enthusiastic academics, alongside
excellent support provided by the
teaching administration team.
In addition to the high level of student
satisfaction, this summer’s admissions
round resulted in us taking our
highest intake of science students
with around 380 likely to join us on
our science degrees and 40 on our
Science Foundation course. Whilst
this is really positive for the school, it
does pose challenges and so far these
have been met. So we welcome our
new science students, alongside our
new intake of medical, pharmacy and
MSc students who will also be joining
us. Right from the outset many of us
will have 3rd year medical students
carrying out their BMedSci projects,
many embedded in our research labs.
Life Sciences has also been heavily
involved in the redevelopment of the
medical course and we are working
towards a much more integrated
curriculum with anatomy, physiology,
pharmacology, and molecular
medicine being full aligned and
linked to clinically relevant teaching.
For example in the same week our
students will study the structure and
function of the lungs, carry out a lung
dissection and then learn the skills
of chest examination linked to GP
visits and reviewing the case of the
breathless patient.
Hello and Goodbye
Seminar Series
We are pleased to welcome our new trainee
technicians, Mia Keeton and Christopher Turley
into the School’s technical team. They will be
rotating around different parts of the School
over the next four years, so you may see them
in a lab near you soon….
The Technical Development team are pleased
to announce that the next round of technical
seminars will start on the 6th October, 121.30pm, in D96a, with Chris Lounds from NEB,
giving a seminar on ‘PCR and how to use it in
Traditional Cloning and Synthetic Biology’
We were very sad to say goodbye to Carol
McLoughlin when she retired earlier this month.
Carol has worked at the University for over
35 years and will be sorely missed. We hope
that she will find the time to come and visit
come and visit when she is not making use of
the sewing machine she plans to buy with the
vouchers she received as a retirement gift from
members of the School!
NEB has a 40 year history in providing
enzymes for traditional cloning, performed
with restriction enzymes and ligases. Chris will
discuss the use of PCR in traditional cloning
and also how it enables the use of more
advanced “DNA assembly” cloning methods
to build plasmids like Gibson, NEBuilder and
GoldenGate. He will also cover how PCR can
allow the adjustment of plasmid sequences
by site-directed mutagenesis and inverse-PCR
methods for insertions/deletions.
Tea and coffee will be provided, feel free to
bring your lunch along.
Please note we are looking for more
volunteers for the TDT, especially from
CBS and the life sciences building, if you
are interested please contact michelle.jackson@
nottingham.ac.uk
What do you want the Technical
Working Group to do for you?
Christopher Turley and James
Briggs in the parcel room.
The Technical Working Group is looking for
new representatives especially from CBS,
Medical School B-Floor, if you are interested
in joining please contact michelle.jackson@
nottingham.ac.uk.
We are also canvassing all technicians for
their opinions about what the TWG’s remit
is and what they would like to see it doing
for them. Please get in touch with Michelle
Jackson if you have any suggestions.
Michael Randall
Director of Teaching
Mia Keeton in the teaching
labs.
Michelle Jackson
Technical Manager
Technical Update
Technical Update
The Nottingham Breast Pathology Master Class
Our daily routine involved spending half of the day in the field collecting fish and the lake’s
environmental data and the rest of the day processing the fish in the lab for phenotypic and
genetic analyses.
The Nottingham Breast Pathology Masterclass is a two-day course aiming to provide the
opportunity for reporting breast pathologists in the UK to gain hands-on experience and update
the knowledge and skills necessary to deal with routine and referral breast pathology service.
The course is run by the Nottingham Breast Pathologists and the faculty includes national and
international experts in the field. The course includes lectures, microscopy sessions, online
digital slides of rare cases and meet the expert sessions.
In July, The Nottingham Breast Pathology Master Class took place for the first time in the
Life Science building teaching labs and lecture rooms. This was organized and presented by
members of the School of Medicine: Pathology (Div. of Cancer and Stem Cells) based at the City
hospital.
The most interesting part of the job was, naturally, the one spent in the field: in 6 months
(overall) we sampled 120 lakes across four Countries and two continents, including remote
areas and completely pristine environments where we had the opportunities to see stunning
landscapes and incredible wildlife.
We worked very hard in all kinds of weather conditions (from cold and horizontal rain in Scotland
to boiling hot weather in Canada), and in any kind of substrate (from sinking mud to sharp lava)
but it has been an unique experience that will accompany me for the rest of my life.
It was well subscribed with over 50 attendees who all showed great enthusiasm in their
assimilation and exchange of knowledge on the subject, and gave good feedback at the end.
With some probability of this taking place in future years [next year already provisionally
booked!] it involved very busy days for the participants & organizers with an array of various
lectures; slide presentations & Microscopy sessions.
Daniele D’Agostino
Research Technician
Personally I found it a great pleasure to be hosting such a prestigious and beneficial event and
look forward to any future continuation.
Mike Gubbins
Teaching Coordinator
Multivariate evolution in replicated adaptive radiations
Probes reading in Canada.
Processing fish in Iceland.
Andrew Isabel and I in Alaska.
For the past three years I have been working as a Research Technician in Andrew MacColl’s lab
on the NERC funded project “Multivariate evolution in replicated adaptive radiations”.
These three years gave me the opportunity to gain many lab skills, amazing fieldwork
experiences and to get in touch with scientists and technicians from many different labs and
universities.
Our data are based on wild fish populations of three-spined sticklebacks, collected from lakes
and lagoons in four different Countries, which meant that someone had to go in the field and
collect them. Each year Isabel Santos Magalhaes (the post doc on the project) Andrew and I
spent more than two months doing fieldwork. We have been In Scotland (North Uist), Iceland,
Canada and Alaska.
Our field work seasons were very tiring, with long working hours and weeks, but the experience
was amazing. I learned lots of new field work techniques and saw amazing places that I would
have never had the opportunity to visit otherwise.
Water light spectra
measurement in Iceland.
Boating in Scotland.
Canada
Athena SWAN Committee
As many colleagues are aware, SoLS received
a silver Athena SWAN award in April 2014,
in recognition of our School’s positive
practices, plans and culture which promote the
advancement of gender equality in academia.
Since then, the Athena SWAN initiative
has been extended to remove obstacles
faced by colleagues in the professional and
technical career paths. Over the past year,
the SoLS committee has increased in size and
representation, now including members from
all job families. Our inputs to PDPR, mentoring,
induction and promotion are helping to shape
University policies, ensuring that everyone benefits from a supportive and flexible working
environment. Any colleagues interested in learning more about this committee should feel free to
contact me for further information.
Jeanette Woolard
Chair of the SoLS Athena SWAN Committee
Staff Development Committee
The School’s Staff Development Committee (SDC) oversees implementation of the School’s Staff
Development Strategy, providing support and guidance for staff career progression, training and
professional development. These activities also support our Athena Swan Implementation Plan,
promoting diversity and equality across the School.
The committee is made up of representatives from the different job families in the School. It
administers funds for career development activities for all staff, supporting the promotion and
regrading processes. It also administers the School’s Conference Attendance Travel Fund, which
supports staff in the Research and Teaching job family to attend academic conferences. Deadlines
for travel and staff development fund requests this coming academic year will be 1 December, 8
February 2016, 9 May and 6 September, with application forms available on our Workspace.
The SDC has recently implemented a new staff mentoring hub and produced a School induction
pack for new starters. We are also developing a new on-line tool to improve our processes around
Professional Development and Performance Review.
Further information on the SDC and links to resources can be found at: (http://workspace.
nottingham.ac.uk/display/LifeSciences/Staff+Development+Committee).
Alexander Tarr
Assistant Professor
Spotlight on Paget’s disease research
Paget’s disease of bone is the
second most common metabolic
bone disorder after osteoporosis.
Despite the fact that in the UK
alone it affects approximately 8%
of men and 5% of women by the
age of 80 years, many people
know little about the disorder and
its profile remains low. My lab has
researched disease mechanisms
in Paget’s for over 10 years and is
very pleased to recently have been
designated Centre of Excellence.
This recognises our research
contributions over the past decade
combined with our vision to further
develop Paget’s basic research
in Nottingham and also to better
integrate this with local clinical
studies. The award is very much a
reflection of exceptional hard work
of SoLS researchers over the years –
started by James Cavey (now based
in the MDLs) and continued by Barry
Shaw and Alice Goode.
One of the skeletons with Paget’s disease from the
Norton collection though to be that of a 13th Century
Knight.
The Centre of Excellence status coincides with funding of a Society Award from the
Wellcome Trust (£116k total) with partners at Norton Priory Museum Trust in Runcorn,
Cheshire. Norton Priory is the largest monastic excavation in Europe and in recent years
over 400 skeletons have been uncovered at the site, thought to date back to the 1315th century. Strikingly more than 20% of the adult remains in the Norton collection are
affected by Paget’s disease, compared to 1-2% in comparable excavations from the same
period. We strongly suspect they represent a family series, presumably benefactors of
the Priory, who carried the same disease-associated gene mutation that we study. The
Wellcome Trust award seeks to generate new public displays and educational programmes
at the museum related to Paget’s disease and the history of medicine which we will
contribute to. We will also perform preliminary molecular analyses of ancient bones from
the Priory, including proteomic work in my lab. In addition Turi King in Leicester (who
sequenced Richard III’s DNA) will attempt targeted and whole genome sequencing,
which will hopefully allow us to establish family relationships, mutation status of known
Paget’s risk genes, and may also reveal other phenotypic information (hair and eye
colour, predisposition to other conditions etc). Very recent investigations also suggest
that the incidence of Paget’s disease in the Norton collection may be even higher than the
20% previously indicated, and in fact Paget’s may be more common in other medieval
collections than previously thought. Determining if the true frequency and severity of
Paget’s in Medieval times have been underestimated should keep us busy for the next
10 years, and hopefully help us raise the profile of an ancient disorder which persists in
modern times.
Rob Layfield
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
SoLS News
SoLS News
Our Biomedical Sciences first graduates
Away Day August 2015
After more than 5 years of preparation for the programme and 3 years of nurturing the
students, we saw our first cohort of undergraduate and PhD students graduate on the
25th July 2015. Joining us in celebration were Prof Ian MacDonald and Dr Yvonne Mbaki.
We attended our prize giving ceremony and convocation at the Putrajaya International
Convention Centre. Three prizes were awarded for Best Overall Achiever (Miss Su Lim
Yang), Best Research Project (Miss Anusha Nawoor) and Best in Professional Skills (Miss
Akila Raghavan). Miss Akila Raghavan also made the Department proud by wining the
Vice Chancellor Medal for her contribution to the Student Association at the Malaysia
Campus. Dr Carolina Santiago (supervised by Kang Nee Ting) is the Department’s first
successful PhD student since the establishment of Biomedical Sciences in Malaysia.
Yvonne Mbaki
Lecturer in Medical Physiology
Tuesday 4th August saw a mixed band of intrepid staff taking part in a fun social afternoon
at Sherwood Hall. After a barbecue lunch, staff were divided into teams within which some
members opted to participate in our ‘sporting’ events and others opted for some more genteel
activity in the form of some quiz sheets, results from both sections being pooled at the end of
the day to give team scores.
The sporting events required no Olympic prowess and were simply meant to be some fun
outdoor activities, with teams participating in dressing up races, water relays, skipping, toy
archery, tug of war and some tea-bag hurling (ask somebody who came for more information
on that one!).
The quiz teams tackled sheets of number puzzles, book anagrams and also needed to identify
Oscar winning films, famous faces and some international flags.
The afternoon concluded with an egg-drop after teams had constructed devices in 15 minutes to
protect their precious cargo using random materials provided by the organisers. Most survived
but unfortunately the creature-like egg device which won on artistic merit did not survive impact
and another team’s parachute failed to open.
Congratulations to Team 3 on their overall win having obtained the highest scores in both the
sports and quiz. (Rebecca Trueman, John Armour, Tracy Farr, Pam Kerr, Cat Bird, Tamar GuettaBaranes, Rachael Cicinski and Yvonne Mbaki).
Hopefully everybody who came had an enjoyable afternoon and met at least a couple of new
people. We hope you will encourage more colleagues to join us for any similar events in the
future. Thanks to all those who helped make the afternoon an enjoyable event either by
organising, helping out on the day or simply by coming along and participating.
SoLS Social Committee
Staff (with Ian MacDonald and Yvonne Mbaki, from UK Campus) and graduates from Biomedical
Sciences (Malaysia Campus) at the summer graduation ceremony.
SoLS save your water.
SoLS Tug of war.
SoLS News
SoLS News
Taekwondo School of Life Sciences Style
The General Aka
Esther Mokori Current
level Green tag. With
her Military training
Esther takes on the role
of the general with her
strong military discipline
she fits perfectly in this
Korean military art.
Again The General has
trained extremely hard
to achieve the highest
awards offered by the
TAGB for outstanding
practitioners of the
art at all three of her
gradings. General’s
highest achievement
was at the Lincoln
tournament were
The team: Top, Liaque Latif Assitant instructer (2nd dan) with my
she blew away the
umpiring award, Esther Mokori (PhD student), Ghayth Abdul Razzaq
competition with
bronze in sparring and (PhD student), Azlina Razak PhD, and Master Ralph Minnot (7th dan).
Bottom Litaf Latif (Temporary Uni member), Mohammed Omar (PhD
bronze in patterns.
Taekwondo has been a personal interest for me for over the last 10 years but recently has taken
a change from actually participating in tournaments, to try giving back a little of the wonderful
experience and teaching the art instead. Some of you may already know the aspiring champion
The Terminator aka Mohammed Omar, already from the last issue; alongside we have some more
great members in our team:
The Dragon Warrior Aka Ghayth Abdul Razzak. Current Level Blue Tag. The dragon warrior
was my first student from the school and a great inspiration for teaching, due to his phenomenal
ability to learn the art so quickly and so well. Strong points, Dragon fist known for his ability
to break through the highest strength boards with his bare knuckles! As The Dragon warrior
progressed through the ranks he received the highest level of achievements awarded by the TAGB
(Taekwondo association of Great Britain, 20,000 members in UK) at each grading. Although his
highest achievement came at the Local Championships, where he received a Bronze medal for
performing his grade pattern and silver for his destructive sparring skills.
We had to accept an honourable defeat at the Lincoln tournament even though video evidence
clearly showed that The Dragon warrior clearly destroyed his opponent, but due to poor refereeing
by the official decision came to sudden death. The matter was addressed by other higher ranking
official and an apology was offered to us
student)
The Ninja Aka Azlina
Razak Current Level Green tag. Azlina’s swift, silent and elegant ability has earned her
the Ninja status. As well as been recognised by TAGB for been exceptional taekwondo
practitioner for her gradings, Azlina also achieved the grading award. This is an award
which is awarded by TAGB to one individual from all the participants in East Midlands
December 2014 grading. This was awarded due to Azlina’s amazing ability to execute
the patterns at a very high standard demonstrating skills normally developed over many
months of intense training by much higher grades.
Everyone is now preparing for the biggest tournament they will probably fight in so far,
The British Championships, held in Derby. Watch this Space!
The Dragon Warrior Aka Ghayth
Abdul Razzaq centre, with his two
Cubs.
The Ninja Aka Azlina
Tazak After her grading
award.
The General Aka Esther
Mokori after winning the
Lincoln tournament.
Liaque Latif
Technician
SoLS News
SoLS News
“I think these few days might change my life”.
We had 3 placement students this summer in the CNS disorders lab. They were taught cell
culture in the cell culture suite and maintained their own flasks of neural cells. In the second half
of the week the cells were treated with different concentrations of chemotherapy drugs. They
were able to plot dose response curves of the effects and tie this in with parts of their biology
curriculum which covered mitosis. All the students enjoyed the experience, particularly the
chance to work with postgrads carrying out experiments and the opportunity to visit other labs
and see a range of other techniques.
The summer months have seen colleagues from across the School welcome students for work
placements. Most are from local schools, though this year Tamsin Majerus hosted a student
from the European School of Brussels. Louise Dynes, Rob Layfield and Peter Wigmore share
their experiences.
From the 13th to 17th of July, the Synthetic Biology Research Centre Nottingham (SBRC) had
the pleasure of offering insight into research on gas-fermenting bacteria to a student from the
Friesland School in Derbyshire. During his work experience
placement, Rhys Denner supported the Gaschem team in
its efforts to study a candidate gene encoding for carbonic
anhydrase in the industry-relevant bacterium Clostridium
autoethanogenum. Under the supervision of C1net member
Bart Pander, Rhys carried out laboratory experiments to
produce data which he subsequently analysed under the
guidance of computer modeller Dr Thomas Millat, also a
C1net member. By the end of the week Rhys was able to
conclude that the gene under investigation indeed encodes
for an active carbonic anhydrase in C. autoethanogenum.
Rhys said “I think these few days might change my life, at
first I wanted to do something more chemistry, but now I
might want to go for molecular biology or biochemistry”.
Rhys really enjoyed his time with us and gave the
impression that this experience had boosted his interest in
studying at University.
Rhys Denner during his work
placement in SBRC.
Louise Dynes
Outreach Officer
Peter Wigmore
Associate Professor of Anatomy
Caroline Anderson
Student Liaison Officer
Running helps to prevent musculoskeletal decline with age
Several members of the MRC-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Musculoskeletal Ageing Research,
including Francis Stephens and Aline Nixon from SoLS, supported Arthritis Research UK by
running the Great North Run in September. Francis Stephens and Andrew Murton (Biosciences)
also ran the Robin Hood Half Marathon two weeks after for the same cause – hopefully not
suffering with joint pain! Each member has their own reasons for running; some have first-hand
experience of arthritis, some work with sufferers on a daily basis and all are involved in research
into musculoskeletal ageing.
Francis Stephens
Lecturer
It was really rewarding to host a work-experience student for a couple of days in early June and
I am very grateful for the effort that those in my lab put in to making the placement a useful
experience for our visitor. Our student was involved in and observed a range of protein analyses
in the lab and right from the start showed a genuine interest, asking lots of (relevant) questions
– in fact so much so that my planned 20 minute introduction to what we do in the lab lasted
an hour. Across the two days he also had a go a preparing a poster for us to use at UCAS/open
days, based around the techniques he was learning about; this worked out well and I think help
put things in to a real context. I would recommend considering the opportunity of hosting a
student to anybody – it is a lot of work, although Caroline helped with much of the paperwork –
and the students do really benefit from seeing what goes on in the ‘real world’.
Rob Layfield
Associate Professor
The ‘A’ Team. From left: Matthew Brook, Carolyn Greig, Beth Philips, Joseph Bass, Janet Lord (Centre
Director), Francis Stephens, Aline Nixon, Andrew Murton, Jessica Cegielski, Colleen Deane.
SoLS News
International News
Student from Beijing visit the Zoology collection.
School of Life Sciences International News
On the 19th of August, we hosted a party of 41
students, aged from 9 to 14, from Beijing who
visited the Zoology collection as part of their
Darwin tour of the UK. Organised by Dr Wang
Qi from the school of Architecture, they were
accompanied by a number of tutors including
staff from the Chinese academy of Science
and the Beijing Paleozoological museum. Their
tour had taken them all over the UK visiting
his birthplace in Shrewsbury, Down House and
many museums and fossil collecting sites.
Their visit to Nottingham was to see the
museum at Wollaton Hall and then have a
hands-on session with the Zoology collection
currently curated by the MSc in Biological
Photography and Imaging. It started with an
introductory lecture and then moved to the
photography studio for a session on the diversity
of insects. In particular they were looking at
camouflage and mimicry in butterflies and other
insects, though the session was subverted
by meeting two living arthropod giants, the
Madagascan Hissing cockroaches and the
enormous train millipede.
They then went to a session on homology and
convergence showing how different vertebrates
have co-opted their arms into a variety of
different uses; flying, swimming, running,
galloping and even holding pencils to draw
the specimens. They were able to match the
bones in their own arms to the bones in the
skeleton displays. Another highlight of the
day was meeting John Brookfield, who was
introduced as someone who had played Darwin
for the 200th anniversary celebration in 2009.
Their level of interest and diligence was all the
more remarkable as they had started off from
Edinburgh at 4am that morning.
British Council Newton Fund
http://www.britishcouncil.org/education/science/newton
Funding for travel and research collaborations
Many thanks to all who made the day possible,
especially Mike Gubbins, Bernadette Hamel
David McMahon and Steve Galloway.
Brazil Science without Borders UG
Our first cohort of 10 UG students have completed their Study Abroad year. Many thanks
to SWB project supervisors who took on students in the first round. 17 students have been
recruited to start in September 2015 and have selected projects offered by neuroscience
and pharmacology colleagues.
Tom Hartman
Teaching Associate
MRC and Newton Fund
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/research/international/the-newton-fund/
NERC International Funding
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/
Academic Visits Abroad
Dr Maria Arruda and Professor Olivier Hanotte are visiting Brazil this month. If you are
planning a trip to visit colleagues overseas a recruitment materials pack is available from
Susan Stelmak.
Susan Stelmak
Internationalisation Administrator
SoLS Notices
The Medical School Stores
The Medical School Stores is on the move, but don’t worry, they’re not going far! Following the
completion of building works, they will be relocating to S/A1953, the former School of Health Sciences
classroom - you can find this opposite the School of Health Sciences entrance on the south side of QMC.
Further details will be issued when confirmation of moving dates is received, though it is anticipated that
the new store will be fully operational by early October.
You can expect the same level of service, just in a different location.
Why are they moving you may ask? The Medical School has secured major funding from the MRC to
develop its translational MRI imaging facility which is expected to be functional by Spring 2016. As this
requires major extension of the current MRI facility adjacent to the Medical School Stores, this has
necessitated the move of the Medical School Stores to the teaching rooms.
Progress on the works can be viewed via the ‘News and New Products’ page of the Stores Workspace
site. Please take a little time to follow this progress by logging into Workspace and selecting ‘Medical
School Stores’ from the Site Spaces directory (page 6).
Zoology Collection in the Life
Sciences Building.
Photography and Imaging
collection.
Chris Coleman
Medical School Stores Manager
SoLS Notices
SoLS Events
The Medical School D12 Reception
Let me welcome you to the reception team; James Smith and Catherine Bird, we are here
to assist you with general queries professionally.
All sickness absences must be reported by telephone or email to this reception in the
morning of absence. For further details on the sickness absence reporting procedures click
here.
For external parcel shipments please provide reception with a project code and a
description of the content. This service is complete with a online tracking system to view
the status of your parcel.
Life Sciences Seminar Programme Autumn 2015
Wednesday 4 pm Medical School Lecture Theatre LT4 unless indicated otherwise
Tony Birmingham Lecture
7 October
Nigel Bunnett (Monash University, Australia)
“Endosomes: Platforms for the signaling train to pain and inflammation”
http://www.monash.edu.au/pharm/research/researchers/profile.html?sid=54964&pid=4245
Host: Steve Hill
Contact Number: 0115 82 30141
14 October
Henrik Strahl (Newcastle University)
“Polar localization of bacterial chemoreceptors by recruitment to highly curved
septal membranes”
Email: LS-Reception@nottingham.ac.uk
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/camb/staff/profile/h.strahl
Host: Thorsten Allers
21 October
Anne Dell CBE FRS (Imperial College, London)
“Life is sweet: Insights from glycomics research”
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.dell
Host: Rita Tewari
28 October
No seminar
4 November
Miles Carroll (Public Health England)
“The science behind the control of Ebolavirus: a frontline experience of the
West African outbreak”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-study-finds-ebola-virus-mutated-slower-than-first-thought
Host: Jonathan Ball
11 November Freddie Theodoulou (Rothamsted Research)
1 pm
“Hunting for the elusive substrates of targeted protein degradation pathways:
trials and tribulations with quantitative proteomics”
http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/people/theodoul
Hosts: Rob Layfield & Ian Kerr
School of Life Sciences
D12, D Floor
Medical School
Queen’s Medical Centre
Nottingham
NG7 2UH
18 November
Julie Welburn (University of Edinburgh)
“Mechanism and regulation of microtubule motors”
http://www.wcb.ed.ac.uk/research/welburn
Host: Bill Wickstead
25 November
Jan Klohs (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
“Non-invasive imaging of the diseased brain: from microstructure to mapping of
cellular events”
http://www.neuroscience.ethz.ch/research/biomedical_technology/klohs
Host: Tracy Farr
2 December
Paul Conduit (Cambridge University)
“Building a mitotic centrosome in Drosophila”
http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/directory/paul-conduit
Host: Andrew Renault
Enquiries to Thorsten Allers (thorsten.allers@nottingham.ac.uk), Angus Davison (angus.davison@nottingham.ac.uk), Rob
Layfield (robert.layfield@nottingham.ac.uk) or Alex Tarr (alex.tarr@nottingham.ac.uk)
Programme available online at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/life-sciences/events/index.aspx
SoLS Events
SoLS Events
Black History Month at The University of Nottingham
I am really pleased to
release the details of our
events programme.
Please click here for all
Information about these
events which can be found
through The University’s
BHM 2015 blog.
Life Sciences Christmas Ceilidh
Join us on Friday 27th November at 7:30pm till 11:30pm
The Great Hall, Trent Building, University Park Campus
£15 to include a light buffet and a live ceilidh band (Fiddle Factor)
A bar is open all evening within the Great hall
Book your place by emailing LS-SocialCommittee@nottingham.ac.uk by 16th
November
£15 Payment required by 20th November at the following locations:
D12 Catherine Bird Medical School Reception
C53 Helen Crotty Centre for Biomolecular Sciences
A45 Gemma Bosson Life Science Building
A tribute to . . .
A tribute to . . .
David de Pomerai
Seeking to diversify my research, I received British Council funding (not really recommendable, as
they only want to fund people!) for a big collaborative project involving Matt Loose plus colleagues in
mathematics and two research institutes in India. The science went well, but two UK students baled out
soon after being sent to India to conduct parts of their research there. We rescued the programme, but it
underlined the naivete of the British Council’s assumption that UK students would want to go to India just
as much as Indian students (predictably) want to come here. Our work also generated some interesting
signposts for modelling the effects of toxicant mixtures on stress-response gene networks in C. elegans.
In collaboration with Jerzy Behnke, I have recently become involved in developing cystatin null-mutant
strains of C. elegans as a sensitive assay for the cuticle-exploding properties of plant-derived cysteine
proteinases as potential antheminthics – not an area I had ever expected to explore…..
Background.
I came to Nottingham way back in 1978, as a fresh-faced postdoc from Edinburgh, working on the
transdifferentiation of chick retina into lens in tissue culture. Prior to that, I’d completed a PhD on in
vitro transcription using rat liver RNA polymerase II (with Peter Butterworth at UCL), and prior to that,
a BSc in Epigenetics from Edinburgh. That was not quite what we now understand by ‘epigenetics’ – but
rather used the term in a much broader sense to describe what might be involved in the processes of
animal development. It was a very exciting time to be in Edinburgh; I’d originally gone there to study
molecular biology (the first course of its kind in the UK), but discovered that Bill Hayes’ and Martin
Pollock’s version of molecular biology was exclusively (eu)bacterial – and it all seemed rather cut and
dried by 1970, at least for E. coli. So, despite the excellent teaching offered in that department, I
changed my Honours specialisation to Hal Waddington’s sub-department of Epigenetics within the
Animal Genetics department. I was there at a particularly exciting time: Waddington was still there
(just!) – collaborating with Rene Thom on multidimensional mathematical descriptions of developmental
processes (well ahead of its time); Max Birnstiel had isolated first ribosomal genes and subsequently
histone genes by CsCl density gradient centrifugation, long before the days of recombinant DNA; John
Bishop had used RNA-DNA hybridisation kinetics to estimate how many genes were actually being
expressed in immature red blood cells (around 10,000 – from memory – which seemed a wild overestimate to most people at the time); and Ken Jones had pioneered RNA-cDNA in situ hybridisation. By
the time I came back to Edinburgh 3 years later to work with Ruth Clayton’s lens group, Max had left
for Zurich, and much of the momentum seemed to have dissipated. On the other hand, I was soon to
get married, and joined a climbing club which got me hooked on Munro bagging. [For the uninitiated,
Munros are those Scottish mountains over 3000 feet (awkwardly 913 metres) in height – of which
there are just 4 in England, about 8 apiece in Wales and the Irish Republic, and 280-odd in Scotland. I
finally completed my round of all the UK Munros in 2007, but have only done one of the Irish peaks this
summer.]
Research at Nottingham.
I lost my first wife to Hodgkins’ disease less than a year after arriving in Nottingham, so it took
some time to get my own research established. For the first 12 years (till 1990) I continued to work
on transdifferentiation, investigating how different medium factors could enhance (FGF) or inhibit
(glucose) conversion into lens cells. The trouble was that tissue culture is very expensive, and the
transdifferentiation process takes about 6 weeks to complete. I suspect we were actually dealing
with a population of undifferentiated stem cells – which in recent years would have become very
fundable. However, that wasn’t the case, nor even on the horizon, 25 years ago, so with Peter
Usherwood’s encouragement, I moved fields to work on transgenic C. elegans as part of a new
ecotoxicology grouping. That too met with some success in grant terms, and even garnered some
press and TV coverage of our ‘blue worms as a litmus test for pollution’ in the mid-90s. Mistakenly, at
least in retrospect, I then got embroiled in a collaboration with electronic engineers interested in weak
microwave fields – the kind of emissions you get from mobile phones. Initially our stress-sensitive hsp
transgenic worms showed clear and consistent responses to microwave exposure – which even got into
Nature back in 2000. That in turn led to opportunities for a wonderful sabbatical in Vancouver (doing
RNAi) and a major grant from MHTR, where we were told to ‘test our model system to destruction’.
Part of that funding allowed us to have the electronic engineers’ exposure rig calibrated at the National
Physical Laboratory – which uncovered some power leakage giving rise to a small (0.2 degree) rise in
temperature in the microwave-exposed cell as compared to its sham counterpart. Surely insignificant?
Well no, as it turned out; a 0.2 degree increase in temperature (with no microwaves) give a very similar
response to that which we had previously seen during microwave exposures. End of story is that we
couldn’t (and still can’t) find any convincing or reproducible evidence for a biological effect attributable
solely to microwave exposure. I just wish other researchers in this messy field were as diligent about
controlling for slight heating artefacts....... The good news, I suppose, is that mobile phones probably
don’t fry, broil, parboil or even gently grill your brain!
Finally, and in collaboration with David Bell initially, we produced some double transgenic C. elegans strains
incorporating CFP- and YFP-tagged human alpha-synuclein genes (picture) – allowing us to monitor
synuclein aggregation by FRET. Hopefully these could provide a model for rapid-throughput screening
of factors involved in Parkinson’s Disease. I envisaged using these to investigate suspect environmental
pollutants (singly or in mixtures) that might aggravate synuclein aggregation, and also how such agents
interact with key genetic factors in the protein handling pathways. In principle, these worms could also
be used to screen candidate anti-aggregation drugs. Parkinsons’ UK didn’t seem wildly keen on this idea
(unlike the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, which funded us initially), and the death of my second wife (also of
cancer) in 2012 has discouraged me from pursuing this line of research any further. I shall simply submit
these strains to CGC (the C. elegans genetic stock centre) before I leave so that somebody else can have
fun with them.
Teaching.
On the teaching front, developmental biology (reflecting my background) was my main focus initially,
but this has gradually been taken over by Genetics staff, as has a module I used to teach on cancer.
Having become ordained as an Anglican priest in 1993 (non-stipendiary – i.e. unpaid), I found myself
in the unusual position of having some formal ethics training in a biology world that was being rocked
by acrimonious controversies over GM, cloning, stem cells and much else. Hence Bioethics, a module
that used to run as a second-year option, but which has for many years served a summative function in
semester 6 for most of our third-year undergraduates. As student numbers climbed, so the lecture-based
format became increasingly unwieldy (not to mention its excessive marking load); this module clearly
needed to change, and I can only wish Sara well with its successor.
All in all, and despite some upsets, I’ve greatly enjoyed the past 37 years (!) here. There has been some
frustration, but also a great deal of job satisfaction along the way. I am indebted to many colleagues
within the School (and beyond) for their support, advice, friendship and collaboration over the years,
which has taken me in several unexpected and mostly rewarding directions that I would never otherwise
have explored. Heartfelt thanks to you all.
David de Pomerai
Associate Professor
Synuclein Worms
Conference reports
Conference reports
The British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP), July, 2015.
The 9th European Zebrafish Meeting (EZM), Oslo, Norway, June, 2015.
The BAP held its 2015 Summer Meeting at the
University of Bristol between 26th and 29th
July. Being an international undergraduate
student this was the first chance I have had
to participate in an internationally recognized
conference. When I decided to study abroad
for a year to complement my degree in
Biomedicine I never thought that I would have
such an opportunity. It was an invaluable
experience to attend this conference along
with other exceptional psychopharmacology
researchers, and to give a poster presentation
about my one year research project at the
University of Nottingham, which investigated
the involvement of 5-HT receptors in the
locomotor stimulant and hypothermic effects of
the recreationally used drug mephedrone.
Conference Dinner at the Bristol Grammar
School.
It was a very gratifying experience and I
would like to thank the School of Life Sciences
for this opportunity, especially the support
of my supervisor Dr Maddy King, the BAP
for providing me with an Undergraduate
Travel Award to fund my attendance at this
conference, and the Sciences Without Borders
programme for funding my study abroad.
Camila Alves Mondini
Science Without Borders undergraduate
student.
Supervised by Dr Maddy King
I attended symposia and short oral
presentations on the subjects of ‘glutamatergic
strategies for schizophrenia’ and ‘early life
stress and depression’, which included a
Brazilian speaker, Dr Mario Juruena from
Sao Paulo. These were followed by oral
presentations from the 2015 BAP prize
winners; Claire Gillan (OCD), Ciara McCabe
(reward and aversion in depression), Robin
Carhart-Harris (psychedelic drugs) and
Valeria Mondelli (stress and psychosis). I also
attended a trainee’s workshop that addressed
issues like clinical research, working in industry
and work-life balance, and where Professor
Trevor Robbins (winner of the 2015 BAP
lifetime achievement award) shared his ‘ten
secrets for success in science’. This workshop
was a great help to junior scientists, and even
better for me because I am an international
student. Breaks between sessions were a
great opportunity to meet the other attendees
and talk with experts in my area of interest
about the subject, and opportunities for a
future Masters and PhD. Also, it was nice to
see my country represented at this conference
in two short oral presentations, showing that
it is internationally recognized in this field.
To complete the day we had a very nice
Presenting my research at The British
Association for Psychopharmacology
(BAP).
The 9th European Zebrafish Meeting (EZM) was
held from the 28th of June to the 2nd of July
2015. It is a biannual meeting that is attended
by zebrafish scientists from all over the world
who gather together to share and discuss their
research. The 2015 meeting was held in Oslo
Norway. This was a very well organized meeting.
Everything from registration to the planning of
talks and poster sessions and the social events
were extremely well arranged.
conference came up to my poster to have a chat
with me and expressed their interest in our work.
Listening to many of the talks presented at this
conference by both plenary speakers and students
from eminent universities around the world
made me realize that we are carrying out similar
experiments. This made me think about how
fortunate I am to be a part of such a prestigious
university and lab that does research which is at
power with other big labs around the world.
The morning sessions began with talks by invited
plenary speakers who work in different areas of
research and use the zebrafish as an animal model
to carry out their research work. It was fascinating
to see the wide applications of the zebrafish as
a vertebrate animal model in studies involving
cancer, regeneration, morphogenesis, neurobiology
and development. It was exciting to meet the
eminent people in the field of hematopoiesis and
to hear their talks and presentations.
The highlight of the conference was the formal
dinner on the last night of the conference that was
held in the famous Opera House of Oslo City. This
formal night commenced with a well-composed
zebrafish jingle that we all sang together!!!
Besides attending the conference it was a pleasure
to visit Norway, with beautiful sites of tourist
attractions.
I attended this meeting with my supervisor,
Dr. Martin Gering. I presented a poster that
displayed the data I have generated during my
PhD as well as some of the work that is done in
our lab. Making use of a novel zebrafish gene
trap line, the qmc551 line, our lab focuses on
hematopoiesis (blood formation) in the zebrafish.
In this line the first blood forming endothelial
cells with in the ventral wall of the dorsal aorta
(vDA) i.e. hemogenic endothelial cells are labeled
with a green fluorescent protein (GFP). These
cells give rise to the early hematopoietic (blood)
stem cells, as they undergo an endothelial to
hematopoietic transition and join circulation via
the vein. Later these hematopoietic cells seed
the caudal hematopoietic tissue (CHT), which
is the transitory site of hematopoiesis in the
zebrafish embryo. From here the cells migrate
to the thymus and kidney, which are the larval
and adult sites of hematopoiesis in the fish. I
have done a lot of confocal work using this line
to study cell behavior and would like to thank Dr.
Tim Self and his group from the department of
Cell Signalling. Dr. Chris Moore the post doc in our
lab has isolated and sorted the GFP+ cells from
the early qmc551 embryos, using Fluorescent
Activated Cell Sorting. The transcriptome of these
cells has been analysed and Chris has found some
interesting genes that are specifically expressed in
cells within in the vDA, the CHT and the thymus. I
presented the data generated on the qmc551 line
and I felt honored to be representing my Lab at
this high profile platform and the work we do here
in the Gering Lab, at the University of Nottingham.
It was really nice to see that many people at the
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the
School of Life Sciences and The Carr Scholarship
Fund for funding my travel and giving me this
chance to attend this high profile conference.
Maryam Jalali
PhD Student
Supervised by Dr Martin Gering
Presenting my research at The British
Association for Psychopharmacology
(BAP).
Conference reports
Conference reports
9th European Zebrafish Meeting, Oslo Norway, June - July, 2015.
FASEB “NAD Metabolism and Signaling” Conference and best poster prize
sponsored by Eppendorf, Timmendor August 9th-14th, 2015.
I would like to thank the School of Life Sciences for providing me the opportunity to present
my research at the 9th European Zebrafish Meeting in Oslo Norway from June 28 – July 2,
2015.
The conference was attended by two thousand people from all over the world who are at
the forefront of zebrafish research. The program included four keynote presentations by
Professors Ewan Birney, Rainer Friedrich, Leonard Zon and Laia Ribas that were particularly
stimulating. In addition, twenty plenary talks, 78 short oral presentations and hundreds of
posters provided ample opportunity to choose relevant subject areas. Workshops and strategic
discussions were also on offer, overall covering recent scientific breakthroughs in functional
genomics, developmental biology, biomedicine including disease models, toxicology and drug
development. Moreover, the 9th EZM draw attention to zebrafish and medaka as models for
aquaculture related research.
Particularly memorable were the keynotes ‘Finding
Therapeutics Using The Zebrafish’ presented by Prof.
Leonard Zon from Boston Children’s Hospital (US),
and the plenary talk ‘Decoding the Molecular Cues
That Regulate HSC Specification’ by Prof. David Traver
from University of California at San Diego (US),
which presentations discussed similar mechanisms of
recruitment and signalling pathways directly relevant
to my project, providing insights into research areas in
my field and valuable experience for me to present my
own work. Best of all was that I had the opportunity
to discuss my research about ‘Redundant function of
Def6a and Swap70b regulating cell movements during
epiboly independent from non-canonical Wnt signalling’
with internationally renowned researches and I received
valuable advice that will help in my future studies.
The conference venue offered great social events too
including the welcome reception, an invitation to the Oslo
City Hall by the Mayor, and a dinner in the Oslo’s Opera
House. I particularly enjoyed my evening walks around
the harbour after long hours of talks.
Overall, it was a conference that combined high level
of science in a condensed manner, and yet provided an
Presenting my research at the 9th
enormously comfortable and relaxing environment to
European Zebrafish Meeting in Oslo
indulge.
Norway.
Chen Chen
3rd Year PhD Student
Supervised by Fred Sablitzky
Last month I attended the “NAD+ Metabolism
and Signaling” conference hosted by
the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology (FASEB), at Timmendorfer
Strand, Germany.
I was impressed by the excellent organization
and quality of the scientific talks. It was a
great opportunity to exchange information
and technologies with researchers working on
the biochemical, molecular, genetic and cell
biological aspects of NAD and related molecules.
The number of participants was relatively
small (just above 100) and this gave me the
invaluable occasion to discuss my research
personally with several leading experts in the
field. I also found it extremely useful to attend
talks that were not strictly related to my studies
as it helped to significantly broaden my general
knowledge on the topic.
I found talks given by Professors Leonard
Guarente (MIT) and David Sinclair (Harvard
University) on the involvement of NAD
metabolism in aging and its translational
potential particularly interesting. In addition,
Prof. Shin Imai (Washington University)
group showed data on the identification of a
transporter for NAD-precursor NMN, which could
be directly relevant to my studies. Of note,
Prof. Raul Mostoslavsky (Harvard University)
presented his astonishing findings on the
protective role of the NAD-dependent protein
SIRT6 against pancreatic cancer.
In addition to scientific talks, there was a
session allocated for poster presentation and
I had the chance to present a poster on my
research entitled “NAD-precursor NMN and axon
degeneration: downstream mechanisms and in
vivo relevance”. I was amazed and pleased to
notice the interest and enthusiastic feedback
my work generated. Indeed, the FASEB jury
acknowledged the impact my research could
have towards understanding the role of NAD
metabolism in axon degeneration and I was
awarded the Eppendorf prize for the best
poster. After the prize celebration, there was
a conference farewell by the sea with drinks
and food. I thought that was a perfect way to
celebrate this achievement.
https://www.eppendorf.com/UK-en/about-us/
news/#item_news-1505
Overall, it was a great experience. This is the
second international conference I attend and I
have to admit that I really love the atmosphere
at these meetings. I am now looking forward to
my next conference.
Conference and best poster prize sponsored
by eppendorf
Andrea Loreto
2nd Year PhD student
Supervised by Laura Conforti
Conference reports
Conference reports
European College of Sport Science (ECSS) Annual Congress, Malmo, Sweden, June
2015.
British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology, BSACI, Telford, 2015.
The 9th International Conference on the Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of Clostridia (ClostPath)
was held in Freiburg, Germany between 7th and 11th September. Among the delegates was an eightstrong contingent from the Health Group within the Synthetic Biology Research Centre at the University of
Nottingham.
Starting promptly at 08:30 each day, the scientific programme consisted of key-note lectures, symposia
and poster sessions covering a range of topics including toxins and disease, virulence gene regulation,
sporulation, germination, epidemiology and therapeutics. Both the quality of talks and the research being
presented were of an exceptionally high standard throughout the conference.
Of the group of eight which travelled from Nottingham, five are current PhD students and each of us
presented a poster detailing the results of our current research. Michaella presented on the isolation of C.
difficile bacteriophages, Natasha on her work investigating the genetics of C. difficile Binary toxin, Lorna on
her work characterising a C. difficile germination protease, Michelle presented on a Restriction modification
system in C. difficile and I presented my work investigating genes involved in C. difficile sporulation and
germination. Accompanying us were post-doctoral researcher Carolyn Meaney who presented a poster
outlining her work investigating spore germination of C. botulinum, senior research fellow Sarah Kuehne,
who presented a poster on C. difficile ribotypes and their significance in relapse patients, and professor
Nigel Minton who presented a well-received talk on the development of genetic tools for the manipulation
of Clostridia.
Away from the conference venue, we were able to network with our fellow delegates, venture out into the
City centre (taking particular care not to step in the “Baechle”), enjoy a hike into the Black Forest, and,
most-importantly, enjoy a slice of Black Forest Gateaux!
We would like to thank the School of Life Sciences for the generous awarding of Travel Grants which made
attendance at this conference possible.
Patrick Ingle
PhD Student
Supervised by Sarah Kuehne and Nigel Minton
I am extremely grateful to the SoLS for
awarding me the travel grant to attend BSACI
2015, Telford, UK. Due to the increased
incidence and morbidity of allergy, allergic
diseases have received considerable attentions
in the last few years in order to find new
approaches for diagnosis, prognosis and
therapy. BSACI annual conference offers
excellent opportunity by bringing the latest
knowledge, highlighting hottest areas in the
allergy research, gathering delegates and
expertises from all over the world. I had
opportunity to present my poster entitled
“development of IgE microarray assays for
classification of allergic individuals”. Attending
this conference enabled me to present some
of my research findings in huge exhibition
area and to respond to critical views of many
researchers. It was also great chance to
interact with colleagues and built research
network across the BSACI community. The
meeting continued over 3 days with parallel
sessions that covered a wide range of
disciplines in allergy and clinical immunology.
In addition, workshop sessions, scientific
debates, poster exposition, company’s
symposia and social events were very popular.
It was big opportunity for me to meet students
working in similar projects, exchange ideas
and interact with the speakers in a friendly
atmosphere. Moreover, the meeting kept me
updated with the latest diagnostic lab methods
for allergy in the clinical centers as well as the
efficacy and the limitation of them.
Overall the meeting was a great experience
for me to expand my horizons in the field of
allergy. I believe that the data I presented
were massive, great and the feedback I got
from researchers were very encouraging. I also
believe that the experience that I have gained
from attending this conference will be useful
for my current research and bonus to my
future career.
Finally, thanks again to SoLS for awarding
me the travel grant and big thanks for my
supervisors for the excellent supervision,
additional fund and helping me to attend such
valuable scientific events.
Aljali Hamed
PhD student
Supervised by Dr Lucy Fairclough, Dr
Paddy Tighe, and Dr Ian Todd.
43rd Annual meeting of the European Teratology Society 30th August to 3rd
September, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2015.
I was pleased to join the 43rd annual
conference of the European Teratology Society
(ETS) which was taken place in Amsterdam,
the Netherlands from 30 August to 3
September 2015.
Michaella Whittle presenting her
poster on isolating C. difficile
bacteriophages.
Patrick Ingle, Natasha Kinsmore, Michelle Lister and
Michaella Whittle enjoying the sights or Freiburg.
This year, the meeting started by visiting
“Museum Vrolik” in academic medical centre,
University of Amsterdam, where the welcome
reception of the society was held. This is very
unusual kind of museums available around the
world. This museum contains a collection of
pathological specimens, established at the end
of the 18th century, comprised of anomalous
embryos, odd skulls and bones.
On the next days, the schedule of events
was so busy and the symposia consisted of
the following topics (Labelling requirements
in Europe for pregnancy and lactation,
Inflammation in pregnancy development and
health, Pulmonary Hypertension, The zebrafish
embryo: fit for all purposes? and Mouse
models). Furthermore, there was a round table
for young researchers to discuss up to date
technologies and models which is it believed
Conference reports
Conference reports
43rd Annual meeting of the European Teratology Society 30th August to 3rd
September, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 2015.
The 25th International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) Symposium on the
Cannabinoids, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, June 28th-July 3rd, 2015
to be useful for embryotoxicity screening
chemicals. The project that I enjoyed was
conducted to assess placental transport of
synthetic oxytocin by using ex vivo human
placental. Free communication talks of several
other researchers from diverse backgrounds
was another important part of the meeting this
year to keep one posted with various research
interests in the field of teratology. However,
the main purpose for being in the meeting
was to present a part of my project which was
performed by myself and two of Dr.Pratten’s
medical project students (Roseanna McAlpine
and Phasawee Chiewhatpong) under my
technical supervision. The poster was entitled
‘Assessment of developmental cardiotoxic
effects in chick embryonic cardiomyocyte
micromass culture and the mouse embryonic
stem cell differentiation model of novel
phytochemicals’. This was presented on the
second day of the meeting where several
aspects of feedback were about our work
have been discussed in friendly and scientific
environments. We are proud as our poster
abstract was accepted for publication in the
Reproductive Toxicology Journal Volume
56/2015. Apparently, the social part of the
event was also great; we were invited for a
dinner in Sint Olofskapel restaurant which was
really impressive venue. The dinner was also
another opportunity to extend the relationships
and to meet new friends.
Being in Amsterdam is another story; there
were many attractions to be visited and
canals everywhere in the city centre proving
inspiring views. I decided to visit Madam
Tussauds Museum taking many photos with
celebrities and stars. I also popped in to
Brussels, Belgium via guided excursion and
visited other attractions over there such as
Atomium structure and Manneken pis sculpture
(the urinating little boy). All that valuable and
enjoyable experiences would not be possible
without a kind support and guidance from my
supervisor Dr. Pratten. Thanks again for my
supervisors Dr. Pratten and Dr. Loughna for
all the efforts and assistance. Many thanks for
the School of Life Sciences for awarding me a
travel grant to support my attendance to such
scientific events.
The ICRS Symposium has been organised annually
for over 25 years, bringing together international
scientists from many fields relate to cannabinoids
ranging from chemical, biochemical, physiological
and clinical research. The symposium this year
consisted of 3 plenary lectures, 8 different themed
oral sessions and poster sessions.
My current PhD research involves studying
pharmacology of pain. The most interesting
plenary lecture was, therefore, “From receptor to
pain: The molecular dynamic of pain” delivered by
Prof. Michael Salter which was very informative
and related my work. There also was a thought
provoking and research stimulating lecture
from Prof. Raphael Mechoulam who discovered
tetrahydrocannabinol, an active compound from
cannabis.
This photo was taken near to NEMO science museum in
Amsterdam city centre.
The topics of the themed oral sessions ranged from
chemistry of cannabinoid-rerated substances and
their biological activities, pharmacology of receptors,
transporters and enzymes to the effects of
cannabinoids in animals and in human. There were a
special symposium and more than 10 research talks
dedicated to the roles of endogenous cannabinoids
(endocannabinoids) in chronic pain. These
sessions provided me an overview of alterations of
endocannabinoid system and pathophysiology of
chronic pain e.g. neuropathic pain and particularly
osteoarthritis, a form of chronic pain I am working
on at the moment.
I presented the results from the work I have
done during the second year of my study entitled
“Inhibitory effect of aspirin-triggered resolvin D1
(AT-RvD1) on spinal nociceptive transmission in
acute inflammatory pain”. AT-RvD1 is a member
of specialized pro-resolving mediators in the
resolvin system. The resolvin system has complex
biosynthetic and degradation pathways and
shares some common metabolic pathways with
endocannabinoids. Among 65 posters, more than
Omar J. Mohammed
PhD Student
Supervised by Dr Margey Pratten and Dr
Siobhan Loughna
10 posters were from pain research groups. The
pain researchers there were attracted by the
main technique I am using, specifically in vivo
electrophysiology, and came to visit my poster.
I received question and comments from them, as
well as those who work in different research areas.
Their valuable and useful comments will be fed
into the publication I am drafting; hopefully I could
submit it in the next 6 months.
In addition to the intensive scientific programme,
the conference also had amazing social activities
especially the trip to Peggy’s cove and ended with a
special banquet.
I took this experience as a kind of academic reward
for me after working constantly for over a year.
Attending the conference enabled me to gain
competency as a researcher, facilitated my PhD
study and initiated a network for my academic
career in the future.
I would like to thank the School of Life Sciences for
funding part of the travelling expense and made it
possible to travel distance and attend the ICRS2015.
I also deeply appreciate the support of my
supervisors, Prof. Victoria Chapman and Dr. Gareth
Hathway and the Arthritis UK Pain Centre, student
travel grants from the ICRS and the Guarantor of
Brain and the Thai Government for funding my PhD
study.
Pongsatorn Meesawatsom
PhD student
Supervised by Prof Victoria Chapman and
Dr Gareth Hathway
Conference reports
Conference reports
The conference programme was spread over 4 days
involved plenary lectures, poster presentations
and oral communications. Being in a group of
new researchers who shared the lunch table with
Dr Marry Abood who is one of the pioneers in
the field of cannabinoid research and discussing
topics like career progression and how to get
most out of scientific meeting in addition to
various topic related to cannabinoid research
was really enjoying and useful experience. On
the third day I had the opportunity to present
my poster entitled “Investigation of Agonist
Action of N-ArachidonoylGlycine (NAGly) and
∆9Tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9THC) In GPR18Transfected HEK293TR Cells.” in a two-hour poster
session. My work attracted the attention of many
delegates who appeared to be impressed with data
presented in my poster specially the work related
to the molecular biology and generation of SNAPtagged GPR18 receptor heterologously expressed
by HEK293TR cells under the control of tetracycline
regulated expression system. I had very useful
feedback from many researchers in the cannabinoid
field. Also I had the chance to discuss my work with
Dr Linda Console-Bram an eminent cannabinoid
researcher who had broad experience with GPR18
signalling. She gave me valuable advices concerning
my work in cannabinoid compounds-induced
MAP kinase pathway and I will take her advice
into consideration and incorporate them into my
experimental design.
First of all, I would like to thank Dr Stephen
Alexander and the Postgraduate Research
Administrator at the School of Life Sciences,
represented by Dr Ian Kerr, for giving me the
opportunity and supporting me to attend the
International Cannabinoid Research Society
Conference 2015 (ICRS 2015) as well as the
Ministry of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia for
funding my project. This conference was very
interesting and gave the opportunity to learn
many issues with regard to endocannabinoids’
metabolism and their physiological role in
pharmacology that were related to my current
project as well as allowing me to present part of
my work.
lunch time who have a similar field to interest
to discuss our subjects to give advice to develop
our project which was arranged before the
event, as well as organized tourist trips for three
places in Wolfville for attendees.
The conference was held at the Acadia
University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and lasted
four days. It started with speech from the
representative for the conference, Dr Alexander
who welcomed the attendees and participants
and also gave a detailed explanation of the
conference programmes. In addition, all
abstracts for participants and timetables were
documented with details in books and distributed
for attendees. This event combined all sciences,
such as pharmacology, biochemistry; biology
and psychology from all around the world. As
a member of the International Cannabinoids
Research Society for the first time, it was a
very enriching experience for me to attend this
conference also I presented a poster about the
novel assay to measure FAAH activity where it is
attracted the attendance.
Nahed Alharthi
PhD student supervised by Dr Steve
Alexander and Dr Andy Bennett.
Attending many plenary lectures helped to deepen
my knowledge about cannabinoids and had a great
impact on development of my academic path.
The lectures focused on various topics related to
cannabinoids including novel chemical entities that
have the potential to modulate cannabinoid receptor
signalling, animal models, an update about the role
of cannabinoids in chronic pain, endocannabinoid
transport and metabolism, human studies, bias and
modulation of cannabinoid receptors and GPR55.
Participation in this conference allows me to have
the privilege of communicating with scientists in
the field of cannabinoids and making new friends
from different countries of the world. Nova Scotia
and Halifax city in general have very nice places to
visit and we enjoyed many lovely natural scenes
and had fun on the beach. To sum up, attending this
conference was really amazing opportunity to meet
established scientists in my field and making friend
from different countries around the world, having
useful feedback and suggestions that would have an
impact on my PhD work.
I would like to express my thanks to my supervisors
Dr Sue Chan and Dr Steve Alexander for offering me
the opportunity to present my research work at the
25th annual symposium of International Cannabinoid
Research Society in Nova Scotia-Canada. My
gratitude goes to the School of Life Sciences and
Postgraduate Research Committee, University of
Nottingham for contributing to the cost of attending
this conference. I would like also to extend my
thanks to reach ICRS for helping me with the cost of
this conference in the form of ICRS Student Award.
Ghayth M. Abdulrazzaq
PhD student supervised by Dr Sue Chan and Dr
Steve Alexander
The key importance in the conference was that
it was divided into two sessions, including oral
and posters sessions. Oral sessions consisted
of many subjects that were interesting in the
cannabinoids field that were divided into: novel
chemical entities, plant studies and non-THC
cannabinoids, animal models, CB2 receptors,
cannabinoids in chronic pain, human studies,
GPR55, and bias and modulation. In addition,
there was open discussion for all people at
Ghayth M. Abdulrazzaq at the ICRS
Symposium on the Cannabinoids.
Raphael Mechoulam, the most prominent
scientist in the event, he was the
discoverer of cannabinoids in 1976. He
gave a presentation and talked about
the history and story of cannabinoid and
endocannabinoid compounds and 25 years
of ICRS. Also, a brief video about his story
in the discovery of cannabinoids was shown.
New Starters
New Starters
I started at the beginning of September as a Teaching
Associate with the Biochemistry Teaching Group, so am
based in the Queen’s Medical Centre. When not getting
lost on the psychiatric wards (true story…) I am tasked
with the delivery of lectures, exams, and laboratory
practicals (amongst other exciting things!) for the first
and second years.
After obtaining a PhD in Molecular Plant Pathology at
Imperial College London I then completed a post-doc
and a Teaching Fellow position. As a “jack-of-all-trades”
I was tasked with running and contributing to courses
on both the biology and biochemistry degree streams. I
enjoyed myself immensely and I look forward to honing
my teaching skills whilst here at Nottingham.
I have recently joined Ed Bolt’s lab in the department
of Life Sciences as a research associate investigating
the CRISPR systems found in bacteria and archaea.
Previously I held a 3 year post-doctoral position at
L’Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Explotation de la
Mer in Brest, France where I studied DNA replication in
the hyperthermophillic archaea Pyrococcus abyssi, with
a particular focus on how the DNA replication machinery
bypasses oxidative damage. Before this I undertook
my Ph.D. at Newcastle University, where I studied
the relationship between structure and function in the
biotechnologically important family B DNA polymerase
from Pyrococcus furiosus.
Timothy Simpson
Teaching Associate
Tom Killelea
Research Associate
I have recently joined Bill Wickstead’s group in the
School of Life Sciences as a research associate,
where I will be working on determining the genetic
repertoire of the last common eukaryotic ancestor.
I’ve recently finished writing my PhD thesis in Prof.
Paul Williams’ group, under supervision from Stephan
Heeb, in the Centre for Biomolecular Sciences. During
my PhD I studied genomic variability of Pseudomonas
aeruginosa in laboratory strains and how this affects the
reproducibility of research, as well as characterising the
genomic diversity and quorum sensing genotypes of 49
clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa.
I am one of two new apprentice Lab Technicians to
join the Medical School, QMC this year. I am currently
based in the department of Life Sciences. I have a great
passion for science and am willing to learn, involve and
interact with everyone to further my experience as much
as possible during my time here. I have met so many
lovely and welcoming people so far, in which I hope will
continue throughout my journey, and I am excited for the
forthcoming adventures. I am grateful for the opportunity
to be based with the University and will welcome happily
any help and guidance from staff.
Prior to this I worked as a research assistant in the
Parasite Genomics group at the Wellcome Trust Sanger
Institute, after completing a Bachelors degree in
Biochemistry at the University of Warwick and a Masters
in Bioinformatics at the University of Leicester. In my
spare time I enjoy baking, once winning the CBS Bake
Off by baking ‘DNA structure’ cupcakes.
Mia Keeton
Apprentice Lab Technician
Hardeep Naghra
Research Associate
I am looking forward to developing my research skills in
the Wickstead lab over the next couple of years.
New Starters
Grant Successes
Afferent Pharmaceuticals fund research into P2X3 receptor antagonists
I have recently joined the Postgraduate
Graduate Administrative Team as a Student
Administrator, where I will be assisting the team
with any queries and quandaries, especially
concerning admissions. I have a background in
Psychology and Healthcare. Having achieved a
BSc (Hons) in Psychology at Durham University,
I then went on to work in an Acquired Brain
Injury Rehabilitation Centre for adults who
have suffered from Brain Tumours, Drug Abuse,
Stroke and Head Trauma. I have always been
interested people, not just to study them, and
look forward to working with everyone in the
department. I am happy to help and eager to
get to know all of the postgraduates and staff.
Helen Lambourne
Postgraduate Administrative
P2X receptors are a group of ion channels that are opened by the binding of ATP to initiate
or modulate electrical signalling. They are widely distributed throughout the human nervous
system, but are also found in cardiac, skeletal and smooth muscle, and in several other cell
types. The group is divided into seven subtypes, P2X1-7, with some subtypes being tissue
specific. P2X3 is strongly expressed in sensory neurons and increasing evidence suggests a
role for this subtype in visceral irritation including that of the airways, bladder and joints. It
has thus become a very attractive drug target.
Afferent Pharmaceuticals (USA) has exclusive rights to develop a series of compounds that
selectively antagonize the P2X3 receptor with the aim to treat conditions like chronic cough,
overactive bladder and joint pain. They have provided Ian Mellor’s lab with a small grant
(£20,000) to conduct some studies into the mode of action of these compounds using single
cell and single channel electrophysiology. The grant is to establish a working relationship and
it is hoped to lead to further financial support in future.
Ian Mellor
Lecturer in Molecular Neuroscience
UoN international team have been awarded research fund to prove the effectivness
of a new treatment for Clostridium dissicile infection.
The University of Nottingham is part of an international team awarded more than $3.2 million from
the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to prove the effectiveness of a new
treatment for Clostridium difficile Infection, one of the most common hospital-acquired infections.
C. difficile causes diarrhoea and more serious life-threatening intestinal conditions as a
consequence of the release of devastating toxins by actively growing bacterial cells in the gut. The
infectious form of C. difficile is, however, the spore, one of the most highly resistant life-forms on
earth. These seed-like, dormant structures can survive on hospital surfaces for extended periods.
Following their accidental ingestion, spores revert back to toxin-producing, actively growing bacteria
in the gut through a process called ‘germination’.
Prevention of spore germination would effectively eliminate the disease. This is precisely what
the funded project seeks to achieve - the synthesis and evaluation of compounds that stop the
bacterium from growing in the gut by preventing spore ‘germination. Some highly effective lead
candidates have already been identified. The five-year grant is led by two USA-based principal
investigators, Ernesto V. Abel-Santos of the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Steven Firestine of
Wayne State University and Nigel P. Minton at the University of Nottingham, UK.
Grant Successes
UoN international team have been awarded research fund to prove the effectivness
of a new treatment for Clostridium dissicile infection.
The project has the potential to drastically
decrease the spread of a dangerous infection,
and improve the safety and well-being of
hospital patients and residents in nursing
homes and extended care facilities. In the
USA alone, there are approximately half
a million C. difficile cases annually, with a
mortality rate greater than 2.5% and at an
annual cost of $3.2 billion.
Nigel Minton
Professor of Applied Molecular Microbiology
An Electron Micrograph of a Clostridium difficile
spore, courtesy of Dani Hegg.
Grant Awards
August 2015
SoLS PI
Title
Olivier Hanotte
£163,712.00
Zoonoses in Livestock Biotechnology &
Biological Sciences Res
in Kenya (ZooLINK)
Helen Knight
Kim Hardie
Equipment award-96Well Thermal Cycler
(PCR)
In vitro proof of
concept biofilm
disruption
Sponsor
Council
Alzheimers Research
UK
Income (to SoLS)
£2,000
F. Hoffman-La Roche
AG
£144,647.00
Total Awards:
£310,359.00
Please email Catherine Bird or LS-MarketingComms any articles you would
like to publish.

September Newsletter 2015 - University of Nottingham

Transcription

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