Category: Staff focus

Postdoctoral Travel Awards in the Department of Medicine

As part of their ongoing effort to support and nurture postdoctoral staff in the Department of Medicine, the Early Careers Committee (a subcommittee of the Development and Opportunities Committee) procured funding to enable postdoctoral research scientists and research fellows in groups without such funding to present their research at conferences. The Postdoctoral Travel Awards are open to all postdocs and academic research fellows in the Department of Medicine, particularly those who need assistance with extraordinary costs relating to caring responsibilities.

Numerous applications were received for the most recent deadline and after careful deliberation the committee decided to allocate funds to Drs David Hodson, James Cole and Jason Long.

Dr David Hodson

David Hodson“The Postdoctoral Travel Award allowed me to attend the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Boston USA, to which I was invited as a symposium speaker. This will be critical for my future career progression, since indicators of esteem such as this are important for obtaining grant funding and academic promotion.”

David’s Research

Gene variants in or close to the gene encoding ADCY5 are associated with an increased probability of developing type 2 diabetes, a socioeconomically-costly disease state. To better understand how this gene may influence insulin secretion in man, David and his group employed molecular biology techniques to silence ADCY5 expression specifically in human islets. Using these approaches, they were able to show that ADCY5 is indispensable for coupling glucose to insulin secretion in beta cells through generation of the signaling intermediaries cAMP and ATP. In addition, they also demonstrated that samples from human donors who harbor risk loci for ADCY5 present with lowered mRNA levels. Thus, ADCY5 variants in or near to ADCY5 are likely to impair gene expression, elevating type 2 diabetes risk.

Dr James Cole

James Cole“The travel award allowed me to attend this year’s OHBM meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii. OHBM is the premier international conference for the field of neuroimaging, and thanks to the travel award, I was able to attend this meeting for the first time in my career. The meeting attracts the world leaders from across areas of research relating to neuroimaging, and it was an excellent experience to be able to see the latest developments in my field all showcased in one event. As well as the many senior neuroimaging scientists in attendance at OHBM, I was able to meet with a number of more junior researchers with common interests to me, allowing me to get a broader view on the type of work being conducted by people at my career stage.

The research I presented at the conference was an analysis from the EU project I work on, known as COBRA (ComorBidity in Relation to AIDS). The opportunity to present this work at OHBM 2015 was invaluable as I was able to get insightful feedback from a range of researchers in the field. Furthermore, there is an important HIV research group based at the University of Hawaii, led by Dr Linda Chang. I was able to meet with Dr Chang and her colleagues, display my findings to them and discuss potential future collaborations.

James’s Research

The advent of combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART) means that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is no longer a death sentence. For the first time, HIV-infected individuals are living into old age. Nevertheless, despite improved life expectancy, research conducted into groups of ageing HIV-infected people reports a concerning increase in the development of age-related diseases. Importantly this includes mild cognitive impairment, itself a key risk factor for dementia. As the number of older adults living with HIV increases globally, it is vital to understand what might underlie this increased risk of disease and cognitive decline.

James and his colleagues use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure brain structure and function in HIV-infected people. They then compare these brain measures with carefully selected uninfected people, with similar demographic and behavioural characteristics. Using structural MRI, they have accurately predicted chronological age in a large, separate group of 1500 healthy people, by employing a computational technique called ‘machine learning’. They then made predictions of age in a group of 134 HIV-infected people, aged between 45 and 78, by comparing their brain scans to this predetermined machine learning model. On average, HIV-infected individual’s brains were predicted to be two years older than their chronological age. The uninfected group did not show this ‘brain ageing’ effect.

This result indicates that, despite successful treatment with cART, individuals with HIV-infection have changes in brain structure that resemble those seen in normal ageing. Age itself is an important risk factor for cognitive decline and subsequent dementia. If there are ‘age-like’ alterations to brain structure due to HIV, these individuals may well have a higher risk of future health problems. Using this brain age model, they intend to further investigate which characteristics of HIV-infection may influence brain age, such as specific cART drugs, levels of residual HIV or behavioural and lifestyle factors.

Dr Jason Long

Jason Long“We’ve recently come across a very interesting finding in the lab and are hoping to publish in a high impact journal soon. So we’re looking out for relevant conferences to go to in order to share this knowledge; it’s vital we let the field know about this and get collaborators on board. There’s never enough money for travelling, so receiving the PostDoctoral Travel Award really helps. In particular I’m using this award for a conference aimed at ‘younger’ scientists in the beginning stages of their careers, so I hope to benefit from being surrounded by others who are at a similar stage as I am, make connections and chat about options!”

Jason’s Research:

Influenza (flu) viruses originate in wild birds, and have crossed over to human hosts in pandemic events after which they adapt and continue to circulate causing seasonal epidemics. In addition there are frequent dead-end jumps from bird viruses into humans, such as the current H5N1 situation in Egypt and H7N3 in China. Yet these viruses have not yet made that extra leap to become pandemics. This is because the virus needs to make several changes in its genes in order to adapt to humans, a hard task for a virus. One such change that Jason and his peers have researched is the change in the polymerase (this is the virus machine that copies its genes inside the cells of the host). For many years we have known that bird flu viruses mutate a gene in its polymerase that allows it to replicate in humans. But until now we have not understood why.

They took cells that were part mammalian and part avian. By looking to see if bird flu polymerase could or could not work in these cells, and comparing the genes between the different cells, they identified a chicken gene that bird flu polymerase can use in avian cells, but cannot use the human equivalent in human cells. This identifies the point at which the virus has to mutate in order to copy its genes and adapt to humans. This finding is very important for the development of antivirals against the flu polymerase, as well as understanding which bird flus may be able to make the jump from birds to humans.

Faculty of Medicine awards update

Mr Chris Lattimer wins second prize at the 16th Annual European Venous Forum Meeting

Prize_LattimerMr Lattimer collected the award on behalf of his team at the EVF Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, for their presentation; ‘Increasing thigh compression pressure correlates with a reduction in the venous drainage index of air plethysmography.’

This highly competitive award has provided a grant of £1,500 for Mr Lattimer to present his team’s work on venous drainage at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Venous Forum, to be held in Orlando, Florida, next February. This is acknowledged to be the most prestigious venous meeting globally.

Dr Mick Jones receives multiple teaching awards in 2014/15

Dr Mick JonesDr Jones, Reader in Molecular Medicine in the Department of Medicine and Course Director of the MSc in Molecular Medicine, picked up numerous teaching awards this year:

  • The top prize at the Department of Medicine Teaching Awards, 2015 for Outstanding Contribution to Education
  • The awards for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Supervision and the Top Contributor to Teaching based on the 2014 Teaching Hours Survey
  • The award for the Best Teaching for Postgraduates at the 2015 Student Academic Choice Awards

Professor Charlotte Bevan appointed to the Executive Committee of the BACR

Professor of Cancer Biology, Charlotte Bevan will take up the new role at the British Association for Cancer Research in the autumn of this year.

Professor Simon Taylor-Robinson elected to Royal College of Physicians Council

In July Simon Taylor-Robinson, Professor of Translation Medicine in the Department of Medicine, was elected to the Council of the Royal College of Physicians.

Dr Brijesh Patel elected to European Society of Intensive Care Medicine NEXT committee

Dr Patel, a Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Surgery and Cancer, has been elected to the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine NEXT (Network of EXecptional Trainees) committee.

In June he was also awarded a 2015 American Thoracic Society abstract scholarship.

 

MRC Clinical Sciences Centre – summer update

Miniature messenger molecules released by cells in the pancreas (green) may hold the key to early diagnosis of diabetes
Miniature messenger molecules released by cells in the pancreas (green) may hold the key to early diagnosis of diabetes

Scientists at the MRC’s Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC) in West London are the first to show that a small molecule circulates in the blood of people who are in the early stages of type 1 diabetes. A simple blood test could detect this biological marker years, maybe decades, before symptoms develop.

“If we can identify and treat patients earlier, we may be able to help them to avoid secondary complications. This could ultimately extend a patient’s life,” said Mathieu Latreille, who leads the CSC’s Cellular Identity and Metabolism research group, and who carried out the research in collaboration with scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Latreille presented the results to doctors at Hammersmith Hospital this month.

Further interesting findings came from a CSC study which has shown that a gene, called Jarid2, may play a wider role than previously thought in co-ordinating the way that stem cells change in a developing embryo to form the specialised cells that make up our bodies.

Scientists know already that Jarid2 is important in organising the healthy formation of many organs, including the neural tubes that become the brain and spinal cord, the liver, spleen, thymus and cardiovascular system. But its central role very early on in embryo development is “surprising”, according to professor Amanda Fisher, director of the CSC, and head of the Institute of Clinical Science at Imperial College London, whose team published its findings in Cell Reports on July 16.

Also this month, in our series of scientific seminars, Simon Andrews of the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, warned CSC scientists that experiments to sequence human genes can, and do, go wrong. Rapid advances in technology mean scientists can now sequence entire human genomes in a matter of hours, and for less than £1000. But Andrews explained that even the latest technology doesn’t stop scientists from making mistakes. “I’m showing you some of the ugly sides of sequencing experiments,” he said.

Winners team ‘Mansfield’ celebrate their rounders victory
Winners team ‘Mansfield’ celebrate their rounders victory

Another seminar in the series saw James Ware, who works with the CSC’s Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Genetics research group, update researchers on the latest in his quest to understand the genetics of dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart condition which affects 1 in 250 people and can lead to sudden death.

Outside of the lab, CSC scientists and staff competed in the Institute’s annual rounders tournament, a relaxing interlude from serious science. Defending champions team ‘Mansfield’ came out on top.

Find out more about the latest news, events and activities at the CSC: http://csc.mrc.ac.uk/news/.

Waljit Dhillo awarded prestigious NIHR Research Professorship

Professor Waljit Dhillo
Professor Waljit Dhillo

Waljit Dhillo, Professor in Endocrinology & Metabolism and Consultant Endocrinologist, has been awarded a prestigious National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Professorship, in the 2015 competition.

NIHR Research Professorships aim to fund leaders in the early part of their careers to lead research, to promote effective translation of research (‘bench to bedside [T1] and ‘campus to clinic’ [T2]) and strengthen research leadership at the highest academic levels. NIHR Research Professorships are prestigious awards for researchers who have an outstanding record of clinical and applied health research, and its effective translation for improved health.

Speaking about his project, entitled ‘Using hormones to improve reproductive health’, Professor Dhillo said:

Disorders of reproductive health affect millions of patients worldwide. The hormones kisspeptin and neurokinin B have recently been identified as potential novel targets for the treatment of infertility and menopausal flushing, respectively. My programme of work aims to develop novel treatment protocols based on kisspeptin and neurokinin B to treat patients with disorders of reproductive health.

Appointment of Head and Deputy of Years 3 and 6 Assessment

I am pleased to announce two important academic appointments:

Dr Amir Sam has been appointed Head of Years 3 and 6 Assessment, with Dr Neil Mo as his Deputy.

Amir, as many of you know, is a Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist at Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals.  He is heavily involved in education, holding a number of roles including Head of Curriculum and Assessment Development and Director of Clinical Studies at Charing Cross.  He also represents the School at the Medical Schools Council Assessment Alliance.

Neil is a Consultant Rheumatologist at Charing Cross Hospital, where he is also the Site Lead for Rheumatology.  He is involved in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, and has held posts as Lead for Simulation Training and Foundation Programme Director within his Trust.

Miss Susan English
Director of Education Management and Programme Director
Faculty of Medicine

Department of Medicine granted Athena SWAN Silver award

athena silver

The Department of Medicine was delighted to hear last week that it has been granted an Athena SWAN Silver award in recognition of its commitment to address the underrepresentation of female academics in university STEMM departments.

The achievement reflects the fruits of actions completed and the impact of changes made since the department’s Bronze award in 2013. The gap between numbers of male and female academics is slowly closing, and academic promotion application and success rates are now slightly higher for women than men.

From the start of its Athena SWAN journey in 2012 the department (headed by Professor Martin Wilkins) took a broad approach by setting out to make changes to culture and organisation that would benefit all staff and students, and “building a strong and supportive academic community” is integral to its mission.

Developments since the Bronze award include a thriving mentoring scheme that is now being adopted by other departments, an annual Welcome reception for all new staff (and informative Welcome packs), an Academic & Family Life panel discussion programme open to the wider College, a DoM Life website, promotion support team and an Early Career Committee.

Many challenges remain for a department of nearly 1000 people spread across six campuses: ensuring that progress so far is both embedded and sustainable, fostering a supportive and interactive culture, and forging a clear departmental identity.

Progress is driven by a diverse Development & Opportunities Committee led by Dr Jane Saffell and supported by HR Liaison Officer Mrs Meriel Cartwright. Within this, an Early Career Committee co-Chaired by Drs Amy Birch and Ed Roberts spearheads initiatives for postdocs and PhD students.

If you are interested in the work of the committees, or would like to see the Athena SWAN submission and action plan, please visit the DoM Life website.

 

Dr Jane Saffell
Senior Lecturer
Department of Medicine

Mental Health Awareness Week @ Imperial College 11–15 May 2015

Mental Health Awareness Week was created by the Mental Health Foundation and is celebrated every year from the 11th – 17th May. The aim is to get the public to talk more openly about the issues that surround mental health and to raise awareness of the issues people face. It is also a time to get people thinking about their own mental wellbeing.

MHAWThis year the theme is Mindfulness, which is all about focusing on the here and now; to forget about the past or worrying about the future, and only concentrate on what is happening in the moment.

To celebrate MHAW this year, the Equality & Diversity Unit alongside the Learning & Development Centre, Occupational Health, and Ethos have put together a range of activities, training and events.

During this week we also encourage you to wear green to support our campaign and take part in our twitter competition where we ask you to tweet us at Imperial_LDC a photo of your lunch break – the most creative lunch break will win a prize. To find out more about our #reclaim your lunch Twitter competition for Mental Health Awareness Week visit our webpage.

We will keep you updated with tweets, emails, newsletters and posters with ways you can get involved in Mental Health Awareness week.

Find out more on the Mental Health Awareness Week webpage.

Celine Jaquet
Operations Manager – Occupational Health Service
Imperial College London

School of Medicine and ICSMSU Teaching Excellence Awards for NHS Teachers 2014-15

awards

Nominations now open!

Teaching Excellence Award

Ten awards for Excellence in Teaching for NHS staff are made annually.  We welcome submissions for the awards from the four main teaching hospitals, the district general hospitals, the mental health trusts or the primary care trusts (or practices). The awards are open to all NHS-salaried staff, working in any healthcare profession, who teach medical undergraduates from Imperial College London or students studying for an Imperial master’s level degree.

Individuals awarded within the last five years will not usually be reconsidered but we welcome submissions for previously unsuccessful nominees.

Distinguished Teacher Award

The Distinguished Teacher Award is to recognise one excellent teacher who continues to deliver outstanding teaching over and beyond expectation and has previously been awarded a Teaching Excellence Award.

Supporting the Student Experience Award

Supporting the Student Experience Award may be given to one member of staff who has a primarily non-teaching role in supporting Imperial students within an NHS environment, who has shown an extra measure of dedication and has achieved excellence in supporting the student experience.

 

Please complete and return the attached nomination forms by 1 May 2015 to Georgina Periam, Faculty Education Office (Medicine), g.periam@imperial.ac.uk

Nomination forms and details of previous winners can also be found online at School of Medicine Awards for NHS Teachers webpage.

First ICL-Pharma Speed Dating event creates new opportunities for collaboration

Lynne Murray
Entrepreneur in Residence, Dr Lynne Murray

On 30 of January,the breakout space at the Wolfson education centre was buzzing with more than 100 dates between 40 Imperial academics from different faculties, and representatives from AstraZeneca, GSK, Lillly, MedImmune, Pfizer, Sanofi and UCB pharma. As a result, follow-up conversations are ongoing, and GSK and Sanofi are coming back to Imperial to search for collaborations.

The first ICL-Pharma Speed Dating event was part of the launching program of the Imperial Confidence in Concept funding scheme, and was organized by the Corporate Partnerships team.  Jonathan Weber, Vice Dean (Research) said “The Pharma speed dating event fits with our strategy to strengthen Imperial relationship with the Pharmaceutical industry and to provide young PIs an opportunity to have their first industrial interactions”. Academics had only 20 minutes to pitch their ideas to company representatives and discuss common interest for collaborations. The event was also the launch of the new Entrepreneur in Residence (EiR), Dr Lynne Murray. “During my tenure as the EiR at Imperial, I will act as an advisor, mentor and trouble-shooter for translational and commercial research directions. I did my PhD at Imperial and I am absolutely thrilled to spend time with Imperial academics” said Lynne. Currently employed by Medimmune, Lynne will act as a confidential and independent advisor with more than 15 years R&D and BD experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry to provide advice on translational research collaborations with industry.

Both academics and company representatives enjoyed a day of interesting and open scientific discussions. Silvia Santos, a starting group leader at the MRC-Clinical Science Centre said “ It was very informative to understand what a therapeutic target is to pharma companies and the path to get into having a potential interesting target. But perhaps even more exciting was realising how complementary our approaches in the lab are with some of the companies and start discussions for potential collaborations”.

As a result of the event, the Corporate Partnerships team is busy setting second dates, and several companies have opened opportunities for collaboration with Imperial College. Genzyme opened a call for projects in inherited rare diseases that will be followed by a visit of their research team to discuss with short-listed candidates. GSK gave a presentation on their Discovery partnerships with Academia and Fast Track challenges, on 23 March at the Wolfson education centre on the Hammersmith campus.

All these calls are advertised through different channels including Faculty mailing lists, and research managers.

If you have any questions about these initiatives or you would like to discuss potential industrial collaborations, please get in touch with the Corporate Partnerships team at enterprise-fom@imperial.ac.uk.

 

Dr Alexandra Esteras-Chopo
Corporate Partnerships Associate
Faculty of Medicine

Introducing Professor Kausik Ray

Professor Kausik RayProfessor Kausik Ray joined Imperial College as Professor of Public Heath, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health in Feb 2015. A clinical cardiologist by training Professor Ray received his medical education (MB ChB, 1991) at the University of Birmingham, his MD (2004) from the University of Sheffield, a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School (2004-2005) an MPhil in epidemiology (2007) from the University of Cambridge and was Chair in Preventive Cardiology at St Georges University of London from 2010.

Professor Ray’s research interests focus on the prevention of cardiovascular disease using observational methods and intervention studies including large trials. Recently Professor Ray has established the first global registry of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia in conjunction with the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) called the FH studies collaboration (FHSC) and is PI for the TOGETHER study looking at cardiometabolic risk factors and clinical outcomes in approximately 250 000 people using electronic health records in London.

Globally a child is born every minute with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) the commonest autosomally dominant condition known to man with a prevalence of about 1:200- 1:250. This results in lifetime elevations in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) resulting in premature morbidity and mortality from vascular disease. This condition can be treated by screening and early treatment with statins and other lipid lowering therapies. At the European Atherosclerosis Society Congress 2015 in Glasgow (http://eas.org), Professor Ray will launch the EAS FHSC, a global registry to harness information on the detection, management and clinical consequences of current practice on clinical outcomes. The mission statement is outlined below and for full details of the FHSC activities please see http://www.eas-society.org/fhsc.aspx

“The mission of the EAS FHSC is to empower the medical & global community to seek change in their respective countries or organizations regarding how FH is detected and managed, with a view to promoting early diagnosis and more effective treatment of this condition. Through international collaboration of stakeholders we aim to generate large scale robust data on how FH is detected, managed and the clinical consequences of current practice on outcomes.”

Free portrait photography now available for FoM staff

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Faculty of Medicine staff are now able to arrange free portrait photography sessions directly with Andy Pritchard, to take place in his studio at the St Mary’s campus.

If you’d like to make a booking, please email Andy to arrange a time for you to visit him.

This will provide you with high resolution digital portrait photographs, perfect for your PWP, website and personal use.

 

Babies and Bumps

New pPicture1arents and parents-to-be are invited to meet other Imperial colleagues in a similar situation for informal networking and mutual support.

HR will be present to answer any questions in relation to maternity and paternity leave. Refreshments will also be provided!

  • Thursday 19th February 3-4.30pm
  • Thursday 19th March 10-11.30am
  • Thursday 16th April 3-4.30pm
  • Thursday 28 May 10-11.30am
  • Thursday 18th June 3-4.30pm

Room 285, Section  of Paediatrics, 2nd Floor, Medical School Building, St Mary’s Campus

For further information please contact Sarah Wilkins

School of Medicine Awards for NHS Teachers 2014

School of Medicine Awards 25.11.2014 070The School of Medicine Awards for NHS Teachers evening took place on Tuesday 25 November.  The annual ceremony recognises the enormous contribution of NHS staff to the education of undergraduates and postgraduates in the Faculty of Medicine.  Fifteen members of staff received awards, which were presented by Professor Dermot Kelleher, Vice President (Health) and Dean of the Faculty Medicine.  Many of the students who nominated the winners attended to describe their teachers’ impact on their education at Imperial.  The ICSM Students’ Union Light Opera Society also performed for guests.

School of Medicine Awards 25.11.2014 004This year, two new awards were created: the Supporting the Student Experience award (for NHS staff in non-teaching roles), which was presented to Darren Pirson, Medical Education Manager at Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust.  The Distinguished Teacher award, only open to previous teaching award winners, was introduced to recognise a sustained, outstanding contribution to education.  The inaugural Award was given to Dr Naila Kamal of London North West Healthcare NHS Trust.  Dr Kamal gave a presentation on her experiences of teaching our students.

Closing the event, Professor Jenny Higham, Vice Dean (Education and Institutional Affairs) congratulated all the award winners, describing them as an inspiration to the next generation of doctors.

A full list of award winners can be found at: http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/prospectivestudents/undergraduate/contacts/awards/

Chris Harris
Quality and Educational Development Manager
Imperial College School of Medicine

CIPM celebrates staff awards

Centre for Infection Prevention and Management (CIPM ) collaborators Dr. Eimear Brannigan and Enrique Castro-Sanchez have had cause to celebrate recently.

Earlier this year Dr. Brannigan was nominated for the Imperial College Teaching Excellence Award for 2013-14. The award was set up in 2003 to recognise excellent teaching among NHS staff. We are delighted to announce that the nomination was successful and Dr. Brannigan will be presented with her award at a ceremony on Tuesday 25th November at 5.30pm in the Glenister lecture theatre at Charing Cross.

Our senior research nurse Enrique Castro-Sanchez has been awarded a travel scholarship by the Florence Nightingale Foundation Trust. The scholarship is to enable Enrique to undertake a study in South Africa, Mozambique and Rwanda on building nursing capacity in antimicrobial stewardship: learning from low and middle income countries. The study builds on CIPM’s existing partnership with hospitals in Rwanda, including the work to reduce neonatal mortality and maternal and paediatric infection through improved patient safety in Rwanda, funded by THET Partnerships for Global Health.

Ellen Clegg
Education Project Manager
Centre for Infection Prevention and Management
Faculty of Medicine

Poppy Lamberton shortlisted for The Women of the Future Awards

poppylamberton-profilepicPoppy Lamberton was recently shortlisted for The Women of the Future Awards – the largest national search for exceptionally talented women, which unearths the next generation of high-flying women across nine industries, including technology, media, business, arts and science. Poppy, a Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, was shortlisted for the 2014 Science category. Poppy works on neglected tropical diseases, which are often endemic in the world’s poorest rural and urban communities. Her research currently focuses on parasitic infections such as Bilharzia and River Blindness, with the aim to maximize the success of treating populations in Africa. Poppy’s research utilizes field epidemiological data, laboratory experiments and population genetics to understand parasite population structure, transmission dynamics and the effects of long term mass drug administration programmes. Poppy is also passionate about public engagement with science, talking at a range of schools and working closely with STEM and the Natural History Museum on events such as Science Uncovered and Nature Live.

Dr Poppy Lamberton
Junior Research Fellow
School of Public Health
Faculty of Medicine

Staff Photoshoot – Tuesday 6 May 2014

2265908696_eafe978f5d_zThe College is providing a free photo opportunity to any member of staff who would like to have a professional portrait taken. This is a fantastic chance to quickly gain a properly lit portrait picture, which can be used on your professional web page and elsewhere.

Many of the slots are now full, however  there are some still available at St Mary’s during the afternoon. Complete this online form to book your place.

School of Medicine reorganisation and new Head of Undergraduate School of Medicine

The School of Medicine has recently been reorganised – adopting a new structure to establish clearer leadership and strengthen links with academic departments and the NHS.

Martin LuptonMr Martin Lupton (previously one of the Deputy Directors of Education) has been appointed as Head of Undergraduate School of Medicine. Martin took some time to speak to us about his new role, what the reorganisation means for medical students and how he believes the university education experience will evolve in the coming years.

Q: Congratulations on your appointment as the Head of Undergraduate School of Medicine. Can you describe this new role, as well as your main aims and objectives?

Thank you. I think the best way to describe this new role is as a facilitator and communicator. As the Chair of the School Board, my primary responsibilities are to facilitate the new leadership team in their work to improve the quality of our educational offering and to ensure that at every level the School listens to and is responsive to its students and staff (both those in our academic departments and in NHS settings).

Q: The School of Medicine has recently been reorganised with a new structure. How will these changes provide benefits to the educational offering and student experience?

Imperial College School of Medicine is a great and very large organisation, requiring collaboration across North West London. To ensure that the School can build on its success at a time of enormous change both in the University sector and the NHS, we have developed a new structure. The new structure will allow us to concentrate on the twin challenges of strategy and delivery.

Q: Which aspects of the role are you most looking forward to, and what do you envisage your greatest challenges to be?

The aspect of the role I most look forward to is also the greatest challenge.  The changes in the NHS are going to require significant parallel changes in our curriculum.  This is undoubtedly going to be difficult to achieve, but provides us with amazing opportunities to refresh and improve the content of our course.

Q: With the rise of online learning and social media, how do you think the higher education experience will change at Imperial over the coming years?

Imperial College Medical School is in a state of permanent evolution. We have already introduced iPads to the senior clinical years and have been developing high quality learning materials to populate an information spine that runs in parallel with our curriculum map. I think that in time more of the factual content of our course will be delivered through on line learning, which will be fantastic as it will allow us to use our human resource to concentrate on the ancient and unchanging need for apprenticeship and interaction in clinical medicine. The new and the old will work with increasing synergy.

Q: What do you see as the greatest benefits and opportunities for medical students studying at Imperial?

Where to begin? The two outstanding opportunities for our students are science and medical excellence. Imperial is a world class scientific institution and our students have a unique opportunity to be exposed to medical science in its evolution, from bench to bedside. Furthermore the Academic Health Partnership gathers together a stable of some of the most famous hospitals in the world, which care for probably the most diverse population in the world, in arguably the greatest city in the world and our students study in this environment! Why would you want to go anywhere else?

Medical Education Special Interest Group

The Medical Education Specialist Interest Group (MESIG) is a discussion group for anyone actively involved in teaching, curriculum development or education research across the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College. MESIG meets once a month to hear from expert speakers, share experiences and offer support and advice for your educational projects. We meet in an informal atmosphere where you can discuss the latest thinking in education, ask for advice on ethics approval or funding for your research project, or simply listen to our expert speakers. We know that you are busy and so rotate the times and venues of meetings each month, to allow as many people to attend as possible.

If you are interested in joining the MESIG mailing list, please contact Dr Graham Easton or Jo Horsburgh, or visit the MESIG website for more information.

Jo Horsburgh
Senior Teaching Fellow in Medical Education
Educational Development Unit

Dept of Medicine Young Scientist Day 2012

The Department of Medicine held its annual Young Scientist Day on 23 April 2012. The event attracted large numbers of research students, postdocs and academic staff who had the unique opportunity to hear and see the range of research being undertaken across the Department.

Over 100 posters were displayed by research students from across the Department. A Departmental panel judged the posters and awarded first, second and third prizes respectively to:

  • 1st Mika Falck-Hansen, Kennedy Institute
  • 2nd M S Cheung, Investigative Medicine
  • 3rd Richard Lawrenson, Infectious Diseases and Immunity
  • 3rd Chris Grice, Microbiology

The event was formally opened at 2pm by Professor Gavin Screaton who welcomed everyone and presented the Department’s annual teaching award to Professor Jackie de Belleroche in recognition of her extensive teaching commitments in both undergraduate and postgraduate Neuroscience.

(more…)

The Moonwalk London 2012

Sarah Perkins, far leftSarah Perkins, Head of Research Strategy for the Faculty of Medicine, is taking part in this years Moonwalk on 12 May 2012.

She is fundraising for the Walk the Walk breast cancer charity.

For further information and to sponsor Sarah please visit http://www.walkthewalkfundraising.org/the_swans

  • If you are taking part in any fundraising activities, please let us know by email j.moore@imperial.ac.uk and we’ll include you in the Faculty newsletter

About the Moonwalk:

The MoonWalk is organised by Walk the Walk. This is a unique event as not only do all the participants power walk a marathon (26.2 miles) or half marathon (13.1 miles) depending on which distance they have chosen, but they all wear decorated bras to raise awareness for breast cancer. There are 15,000 walkers (http://www.walkthewalk.org)

Virtual learning in medicine

Dave Taylor, Programme Lead, Virtual Worlds and Medical Media, and Robin Winter, 3D Interactive Designer, recently won the “design our avatar” competition.

You both work in the Medical Media and Design Laboratory (MMDL) at St Mary’s, within the Department of Surgery and Cancer. What work goes on within your lab?

The lab provides consultancy and development services, and helps to support the Department’s research in use of virtual worlds for healthcare. Our applications range from hospital and service design planning, to major incident simulations for assessing communication and leadership skills. We work with other researchers in our Department, to make use of the latest research in behavioural science and the provision of information for patients in the NHS. Our most recent work focuses on the ability to walk through and test the design of a clinic and its services before it is even built. And we are beginning to work with specific patient communities, and researching more effective ways to help people lead healthier lives. There is an overview of some of our work in the Imperial Media library: http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/imedia/content/view/2084/new-media-and-healthcare-avatars-virtual-worlds-and-apps and in a BBC programme about our major incident simulations: http://www.rockhopper.tv/programmes/619/

Picture: a photo of the Virtual Imperial Surgical Innovation Centre, based on the Paterson Centre in South Wharf Road on a misty day.

How is Second Life contributing towards student learning?

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New FoM Lead for Doctoral Degrees – Dr Laki Buluwela

Laki BuluwelaDr Lakjaya (Laki) Buluwela is a Reader in Cancer Biology in the Department of Surgery and Cancer. He has been appointed to the new role of FoM Lead for Doctoral Degrees.

You’ve recently been appointed FoM Lead for Doctoral Degrees – what will this new role involve?

It is a fascinating and challenging role and I am thrilled to have been given this appointment. One of the main aims associated with the position is to ensure that we provide a quality postgraduate student experience with a particular focus on the postgraduate research environment.

I will also have an overview of all FoM Doctoral provision and act as Faculty representative on various College committees, including Graduate School committees such as the Graduate School Management Committee.

What are some of the key activities you are planning for the coming year?

I start straight away by organising and chairing the selection of prospective PhD students to be supported from the Faculty’s MRC Doctoral Training Award. This is a key event and I will be working hard to recruit more of the exceptional research talent this program has supported over the years.

I also recognise that our postgraduate research students suffer as a community, as they are dispersed over several campuses, and aim to address this by setting up a virtual, web-driven campus to support our students. This is already looking very promising and we aim to beta-test this new resource early in the new year.

What most excites you about the role?

I am really excited about the various challenges this role raises. In particular, I am looking forward to trying out and developing some new ideas to enhance the postgraduate student experience. Luckily, I have been given access to some excellent support, so things are moving rapidly….watch this space !

What is your background, and what do you enjoy most about working at Imperial?

I am a Reader in Cancer Medicine in the Department of Oncology at the Hammersmith Campus, where my research is focused on gene expression in breast and prostate cancer. Over the years I have supervised a considerable number of young research scientists and Clinical Research Fellows as PhD students  and many of these have gone on to pursue successful scientific careers in medicine, academia and industry.

Also, while working at Imperial, I have taken an active role in postgraduate research student matters by serving on several Postgraduate Education Committees and have most recently been Deputy Director of Postgraduate Studies for Surgery & Cancer.

Imperial is clearly a fantastic, World class institution which provides a dynamic and rewarding research and education environment to work in. I am particularly enthused by the exceptional talent of the PhD students we have and hope to help by providing resources that will aid our students to reach even greater heights.

Key facts:

Lyndsey Pallant, new Faculty REF Coordinator

The first of a series of blog entries for the ‘Faculty of Medicine blog’ focusing on staff around the Faculty:

You are the new REF Coordinator for the Faculty. What does this role involve?

As the faculty’s REF coordinator I support the faculty’s preparations for the upcoming REF submission. Amongst other things, I lead on data collection, analysis and scenario modelling. I will support the faculty’s REF committee and ultimately manage the processes required to make a successful submission that reflects the strengths and capabilities of the faculty.

What are you enjoying about working at Imperial?

Imperial is a great place to work and the South Kensington campus is surrounded by some of the best museums in the country, so there is no shortage of things to do during lunch or after work. I’ve so far been to visit a few of the other campuses and been warmly welcomed by the staff at each location. I had the opportunity to take part in a very successful REF event for the Department of Medicine over at the Hammersmith campus and got to meet some of the academics I will be working with over the next two years. I’m sure I will undoubtedly get to know most members of the faculty over the next few months, as well as my way around London!

What is your background?

The hustle and bustle of London is a stark difference to North Wales where I lived for the last 10 years. I previously worked for Bangor University until my husband and I relocated to Kent. I’m looking forward to getting to know the area and settling into my position here at Imperial.

Key facts: