Faculty Research Symposium
Faculty Research Symposium 2011
As in previous years, the FRS showcased the very best of Faculty research. Prof Cay Kielty (Associate Dean for Research) said:
“The quality of the science and presentations by postdoctoral staff and postgraduate students was uniformly exceptional, which emphasizes the commitment and dedication of our Faculty researchers.”
The very best FLS research was showcased on September 23th, 2011 at the annual Faculty Research Symposium at the Armitage Centre in Fallowfield. The symposium was attended by over 1000 delegates from across the Faculty and the wider University – from technicians and students through to PI’s and professors. The event was also attended by 3 of the major scientific societies who generously sponsored the poster session.
Short-listed post-doctoral fellows and post-graduate students gave talks on their published work and were all recipients of an award. The best overall presentation from a postgraduate and post-doc was judged by a panel made up of external partners, guests from the Faculties of Medical and Human Sciences and members of our own faculty. First prize winners, Kelly Hayes (Postdoc) and Garron Dodd (Postgrad) won £400 each sponsored by Science Careers for their work on
“Exploitation of the intestinal microflora by the parasitic nematode Trichuris muris” [Hayes KS, Bancroft AJ, Grencis RK. Science 328(5984):1391-4] and
“The peptide hemopressin acts through CB1 cannabinoid receptors to reduce food intake in rats and mice” [Dodd GT, Mancini G, Lutz B, Luckman SM. Journal of Neuroscience 30: 7369-7376], respectively.
The symposium forms an important part of the graduate training programme and is timed to be the climax of the intro-week for new post-graduate students exposing them to the quality, scope and vigour of the research community they are joining. The lunchtime poster session where all second year graduate students presented was hugely popular with over 110 posters. The £100 prize winner was: Michael Smith for his work on
“Modifying TGFß signalling in melanoma cells causes increased susceptibility to MEK inhibition”. Michael was also the £100 winner of the Best Poster in Pharmacology sponsored by the British Pharmacological Society. Sarah Fox won the Best Poster in Physiology Prize for her work on
“Theta/Gamma rhythmic activity across hippocampal region CA1 in wildtype and Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse models” sponsored by the Physiological Society.
Highlighting the importance of communicating science to a general audience, the £300 FLS-sponsored lay summary writing competition, was won by Patrick Murphy. His piece entitled
“Still man’s best friend” was judged by University Staff and 53 sixth formers from Xavarian College. University of Manchester Intellectual Property LTD (UMIP) sponsored iPad prizes for Faculty-Industry interactions and innovations. The Best New Industrial Collaboration award went to Prof Alison Gurney and the Most Promising New Innovation Award went to Dr Mark Ashe.
Last, but by no means least, the final presentation was from Dr Graham Pavitt, FLS researcher of the year, for his work on “Molecular Mechanisms of Translational Control”. The day was brought to a close with the presentation of prizes by Prof Dame Nancy Rothwell (President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Manchester) and Prof Martin Humphries (Vice President and Dean of Faculty of Life Science).