SBS People [April 2017]
28 Apr 2017
Celebrating staff successes across the Divisions.
SBS in the media
Several members of the School have made appearances on the broadcast media over the past month.
Dr Sheena Cruickshank discussed blood group antigens on Radio 4’s Curious Case of Fry and Rutherford, A Code in the Blood.
Sheena also commented on a recent study that suggests people who take antibiotics for a long time are more likely to develop growths on the bowel which can be a precursor to cancer. Sheena told BBC News Online that anything that disturbs our gut bacteria, such as changes in diet, inflammation or antibiotic use, could potentially have an impact on our health.
Professor Anthony Jones featured on BBC Radio 4 following the Guardian interview we featured yesterday. In the programme, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Professor Jones talked about neural pathways and pain.
The Global Plant Council interviewed Dr Anil Day for a blog post where he discussed his work as a synthetic biologist. Read the article: Synthetic biology in chloroplasts.
Public engagement activities
Stem cell science study day
Once of the posters from the study day.
Post docs from the Division of Cell Matrix Biology and Regenerative Medicine, together with PhD students from the CDT in Regenerative Medicine, hosted an A-level study day in March entitled ‘The Hard Cell: Considerations for Stem Cell Research’.
The study day, developed and managed by Dr Stephen Richardson, Lecturer in Cell and Tissue Engineering, hosted around 30 A-level students who worked with scientists to learn more about stem cells and their applications in regenerative medicine.
Feedback was fantastic, with 100% of students agreeing or strongly agreeing that the study day gave them a better understanding of stem cell science.
More study days are planned and if you are interested, or know someone who may be interested, in getting involved please contact Dr Stephen Richardson.
Conferences
Manchester hosts successful annual British Society for Investigative Dermatology conference
Dr Suzy Pilkington
Over 190 delegates from across the world attended this year’s British Society for Investigative Dermatology (BSID) annual meeting which was held at Manchester’s Hilton Hotel in Deansgate at the beginning of April.
The event was organised by Dr Helen Young who is the Chair of the BSID and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Dermatology, together with Dr Rachel Watson, Reader in Dermatology.
The conference was deemed a great success and was supported by Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Dean of The University of Manchester, who presented the Distinguished Local Lecture, entitled ‘A life of science’.
Professor of Experimental Dermatology, Lesley Rhodes, delivered the plenary lecture on behalf of the British Photodermatology Group on ‘Photobiological responses in people of skin type I to VI’. Professor of Cutaneous Medicine, Ralf Paus and Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biochemistry, Dr Mike Sherratt also delivered lectures on the theme of Cutaneous Ageing on the clinical translational day.
The conference also showcased 32 oral and 67 poster presentations, with Dr Suzy Pilkington (pictured right) awarded the best poster prize for her work on Langerhans cells and β defensin-3 in ageing.
Conference presentations and awards
Dr Hodgkinson (far left)
Congratulations to… Dr Stephen Richardson who won the ‘ORS Spine Section Member Best Podium Award’ at the 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society conference in San Diego, USA for his oral presentation entitled ‘Defining the Human Foetal Notochordal Cell Phenotype’.
Dr Tom Hosgkinson, a post-doctoral researcher with Dr Richardson and Professor Judith Hoyland, was also a winner at the conference.
His presentation entitled ‘GDF6 signalling promotes a non-degenerate phenotype and increases proteoglycan production in human nucleus pulposus cells through smad and smad-independent signalling pathways’ won the ‘ORS Spine Section Member Best Poster Award’.