The 5th Annual DTC Joint Conference took place on Friday 11th July 2014 at the University of Nottingham
The programme included a keynote lecture from Professor Richard Oreffo from the University of Southampton, student talks and poster presentations. Jack Bridge (2nd year PhD student from Nottingham) won the best post poster prize and Lindsey Dew (2nd year PhD student from Sheffield) won the best presentation prize.
The event was attended by students and academics from the White Rose DTC, Nottingham, Keele and Loughborough Universities, and students from the CDT MBE.
For more detail on the PhD abstracts, please follow the link
Colleagues at the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine and the EPSRC-MRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine have created the HEART: Healthcare Engineering and Regenerative Therapies outreach programme.
HEART is aimed at communicating regenerative medicine research to learners and the wider public, demonstrating how this research will ‘help the body to fix itself’. Workshops have been delivered in schools to learners of ages 5-19. These workshops have featured topics such as cell and organ biology, regeneration, the uses of cell-polymer scaffolds, the ethical implications of regenerative medicine and STEM careers.
Learners at Edale Rise Primary School in Sneinton, Nottingham (an economically deprived area of the city) said:
“The scientists are awesome.”
“I’m definitely going to do science at university.”
The HEART team exhibited at Big Bang Fair UK 2014, demonstrating how scientists and engineers address the challenges of helping the body to fix itself. This event was attended by approximately 75,000 learners, and the HEART team communicated topics ranging from the development of microcarriers for use in bioreactors to protective clothing worn in GMP environments. The team have since exhibited at Big Bang Fair London 2014 and the Bollington Festival 2014.
The blog www.heartblog.net has been created to underpin the wider HEART outreach programme. This blog is available as a Tumblr feed (popular with GCSE and A-level learners), a Twitter feed, a Facebook page and a stand-alone website, and features an ‘ask an expert’ function to allow public-scientist interactions.
Blog posts are created on topics ranging from career journeys for scientists in the HEART outreach team to current news articles in the heathcare area to descriptions of our latest research developments.
Postdoctoral scientists in the HEART team have also taken part in the ‘I’m a Scientist… Get Me Out of Here!’ and ‘I’m an Engineer… Get Me Out of Here!’ activities – X-Factor style competitions where scientists and engineers engage with learners to answer their questions online. Postdoc Alex Lyness won the I’m an Engineer Health Zone.
While public engagement activities are important for communicating research to learners of all ages, early career researchers taking part in and leading these activities can develop advanced project management, communication and networking skills that are transferrable into their long term career.
Dr Sophie Dale-Black
Head of Engagement
EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine
Future Investigators in Regenerative Medicine (FIRM) Symposium 2014
After the success of last year’s FIRM Symposium, FIRM 2014 has opened its doors for abstract submission. FIRM Symposium 2014 is targeted at the many translation centres for regenerative medicine around the world, to bring together young researchers for a 4 day symposium.
Set in Girona Spain, FIRM 2014 provides the opportunity for PhD students at an early stage of their research to showcase their work through oral and poster presentations, alongside there will also be world renowned expert academics providing thought provoking keynote lectures.
With a program designed with networking high on the agenda this symposium organised by PhD students for PhD students will encourage international networking in a friendly and informal setting. This year sees exciting workshops in clinical, commercialisation, imaging and communication with a rrp of £800 pp all included in the registration fee for you.
With thanks to sponsorship the cost has been heavily subsidised to only £350/delegate which will include all meals, accommodation and delegate bags.
For more information please see www.firmsymposium.com or contact the committee at committee@firmsymposium.com
Abstract submission deadline: 27th June 2014
The Loughborough-led Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Regenerative Medicine has been awarded £3.5 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Medical Research Council to further its research programmes in this globally important and fast-growing field of the healthcare industry.
Regenerative Medicine has the potential to revolutionise the sector and transform patients’ lives. It covers a wide range of therapies designed to enable damaged, diseased or defective skin, bone and other tissue, and even perhaps organs, to work normally again.
The funding will enable the Centre to increase the number of students engaged in world-class research programmes that have been developed to address the major challenges in regenerative medicine.
Read the press release for more.
The first FIRM Symposium has opened its doors for abstract submission. FIRM Symposium 2013 is targeted at the many translation centres for regenerative medicine around the world, to bring together young researchers for a 4 day symposium.
Set in Girona Spain, FIRM Symposium 2013 provides the opportunity for PhD students at an early stage of their research to showcase their work through oral and poster presentations, alongside there will also be world renowned expert academics providing thought provoking keynote lectures.
With a program designed with networking high on the agenda this symposium organised by PhD students for PhD students will encourage international networking in a friendly and informal setting.
With thanks to sponsorship the cost has been heavily subsidised to only £295/delegate which will include all meals, accommodation and delegate bags.
For more information please see www.firmsymposium.com or contact the committee at committee@firmsymposium.com
Abstract submission deadline 1st June 2013
On Monday 28th May, Loughborough University’s Research School of Health and Life Sciences held its second and now annual post-graduate research student conference.
As last year, the event allowed the breadth of the University’s healthcare-related research to be showcased, bringing together students from Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Loughborough Design School, Information Science, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.
Certificates and cash prizes were awarded to winners of the Best Poster Defence, Best Poster, Overall Best Poster and Best Oral Presentation which was won by Qasim Rafiq, CDT Regenerative Medicine student.
Qasim Rafiq discussing his research poster with Dr Richard Ferguson
Keele University will host this year's annual Joint EPSRC Centre for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine conference. This important event will bring together exciting research from a number of key universities, providing a forum for discussion to drive
all areas related to regenerative medicine. The meeting particularly aims to provide opportunities for postgraduate students to present
their work and discuss its significance within this interdisciplinary arena.
Interest from industry to attend and sponsor this event is welcomed and further information can be found here.
A team of budding young engineers and scientists from Loughborough's Centre for Biological Engineering were finalists in this year's Biotechnology Young Entrepreneur Scheme (Biotechnology YES), beating off stiff competition along the way.
Juan Guijarro Leach, Mark McCall, Qasim Rafiq and William Bowen, all students part of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Regenerative Medicine, set up a fictional biotechnology company, Scigen Biotech, which had developed a novel bacteriocin, Plurisin. Plurisin eliminates gram-positive, gram-negative bacteria as well as possessing anti-fungal capability and the primary application for such a product would be its use as a biopreservative, thereby increasing food safety and extending its shelf-life.
The team from Loughborough were amongst the 9 finalists, having earlier progressed from the Southern regional qualifier. The final, at London's prestigious County Hall, involved pitching the idea to a panel of investors in a Dragons Den style format and then responding to questions.
Whilst the team did not win the "Best Business Plan" award, other prizes were on offer and Qasim Rafiq, was awarded the "Best Presenter" award.
This national competition is run by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise and Innovation (UNIEI).
Four-year integrated research programme and a competitive annual tax-free stipend (tuition fees covered) for suitable candidates
Applications are no longer being taken »
Loughborough University, in conjunction with Keele University and the Universities of Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield and York, is making two early career Fellowships available for exceptional candidates from the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine communities.
For more information please click here. or view the recent webinar here
Congratulations to Tom and Giles
