̨��swag community shares science and celebrates achievements at Lab Talks 2024

24/09/2024

̨��swag community shares science and celebrates achievements at Lab Talks 2024

A dynamic couple of days on 12^th and 13^th September saw the ̨��swag community come together for the ̨��swag’s annual internal symposium, Lab Talks. The event provides the opportunity for community-wide exchange and updates as the latest developments from the ̨��swag’s research, scientific facility and operational teams are shared. Encompassing poster sessions, PhD student flash talks and presentations, Lab Talks covers the breadth of the ̨��swag’s research as well as highlighting the facilities and operational teams that enable the ̨��swag’s research and wider activities.

The event’s scientific organisers this year were Dr Sophie Trefely and Dr Ian McGough, expertly supported by Bobbie Claxton and Susan Buttress from the ̨��swag’s Events team. Sophie commented: “It was a pleasure to organise Lab Talks with the team this year, it is such an important event in the ̨��swag’s calendar. I learnt so much and am blown away by the skill of our early career researchers in presenting their science. I’d also like to thank our two excellent keynote speakers; Professor Ludovic Vallier who described how the team’s fundamental research is being transformed into cutting-edge treatments for liver failure illustrating the power of basic research, and Professor David Weinkove, President of the British Society for ̨��swag on Ageing, who put in perfect focus just why research into ageing, and healthy ageing, is so important.”

First-time organiser Ian said: “I’m thankful to Sophie, Bobbie and Susan for all their help and hard work in organising the event and am looking forward to repeating this success next year. In addition to all the excellent science we got to hear about, a highlight for me was the Nursery team speaking to the ̨��swag audience about their child-centric approach. As the father of a child who attends the Nursery, I’m delighted to see the Nursery team celebrated for the incredible standard of their care and recognised as a valued part of the ̨��swag’s ecosystem.”

The team also acknowledged the contributions of the wider team behind the event, including Heidi Hauser, Graduate Studies Manager, who supported the student poster session and poster judging, and thanked everyone who presented in putting so much work into their presentations.

2024 annual prize winners

Lab Talks has also become the focus of celebrating and recognising achievements from across the ̨��swag with the ̨��swag’s annual prizes.

The Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation Prize was awarded jointly to Richard Berks, Named Information Manager, and Sarah Drummond, Experienced Animal Technician, for their leadership and work organising the ̨��swag’s annual Animal Technician Conference. The conference supports career development, networking and best practice exchange for animal technicians.

The ̨��swag Engagement Prize was presented jointly to PhD students Ellie Griffiths and Jake Cross, for their work developing and delivering the Big Autophagy Obstacle Course, as showcased this year at the Royal Norfolk Show for younger and older people alike! Amongst other exceptional nominations, this was recognised as a great example of researcher-led engagement sharing the ̨��swag’s research in a novel way.

The Equity4success Award was given to Stephane Guillaume, PhD student in the Linterman lab, and Honor Pollard, Communications Officer. Stephane and Honor are Chair and Co-Chair of the ̨��swag’s LGTBQ+ Network, Pride@̨��swag, and were recognised for their work establishing the Network and creating a visibly inclusive and supportive community.

The Award for Contributions to ̨��swag Integrity was awarded to Dr Trevor Smith, Health and Safety and Quality Assurance Manager, for his long-term commitment to supporting research integrity, especially recognising that his knowledge and expertise were instrumental to embedding research integrity at the ̨��swag, not least with undertaking reviews of research integrity to secure continued progress towards excellence in research integrity practices.

The Image Prize was awarded to Pavi Manivannan from the David lab for her image ‘Luminous lysosomes’, showing the pharynx of the model organism C. elegans with fluorescently tagged proteins. The image was captured as part of research using C. elegans to explore protein degradation (lysosomes are vital organelles responsible for protein degradation in cells) and protein aggregation.

The Sir Michael Berridge Prize, recognising research excellence, was awarded to Dr Alyssa Silva-Cayetano, a former postdoc in the Linterman lab. Sir Michael Berridge was a group leader at the ̨��swag from 1990 until 2004, and the prize is awarded annually to a PhD student or postdoctoral researcher for their contribution to an outstanding piece of published science. Alyssa made a leading contribution to the research described in the paper: and described in the news item: 'Lost' immune cells partly to blame for reduced vaccine response in older people. This work uncovered key changes to germinal centres that occur with age and lessen the immune response to vaccination. A germinal centre is a transient immune structure that forms in tissues such as the lymph nodes, tonsils and spleen. Germinal centres are key for the production of antibodies by B cells, both for an initial response to the challenge but also to provide immunological memory if the same challenge should be encountered again (the basis of vaccination). The knowledge of how age affects the germinal centre response can be used to inform approaches to develop ways to enhance vaccination response in older people, thereby protecting health.

Lab Talks prize winners

Excellence in research communication at Lab Talks was recognised by a series of poster and presentation prizes.

First year PhD student poster prizes:	Second year PhD student poster prizes:	Third year PhD student poster prizes:
1st place – Baptiste Piguet	1st place – Eleonore Ocana	1st place – Kieron May
2nd place – Paola Garcia	2nd place – Phillipa Clarke	2nd place – Ella Taylor

Popular vote by Lab Talk attendees:	Oishee Rahman

Dr Johanna Grinat, a Marie Curie Fellow in the Christophorou lab, received the prize for best postdoc talk, sharing her work on investigating the role of histone citrullination in cell reprogramming and cell fate transitions. PhD student Phillipa Clark received the prize for best student talk, presenting her work in the Trefely lab which looks to understand adipogenesis (the generation of fat cells) in order to inform new treatments for metabolic dysfunction. The prize for the best non-scientific talk went to the team for sharing an introduction into the approach of the Nursery to the development and care of each of the Nursery’s children, demonstrating the excellence recognised by four consecutive OFSTED Outstanding ratings.

Celebrating staff achievements

The Lab Talks event is also used as an opportunity to recognise members of the ̨��swag community who have made an exceptional contribution to the activities of the ̨��swag. After open nominations and a panel assessment, Staff Recognition Awards were presented to:

Harvey Johnston, Proteomics Support Specialist – for his proactive, can-do attitude, recognising his great work advocating for the postdoc community and delivering demonstrable benefit to his peers and the wider ̨��swag.
Heather Large, Experienced Animal Technician – for her dedication and going above and beyond to support and train less experienced colleagues, also in recognition of her initiative when problem-solving.
Fraser Smith, Network Engineer, Computing team – for exemplary support of people across the ̨��swag.
Megan Hamilton, Genomics Facility Manager – for her proactive manner in leading the upgrade of the facility and her work in engaging with organisations outside of the ̨��swag’s local ecosystem.

Reflecting on the event ̨��swag Director, Dr Simon Cook, said: “Lab Talks very much reflects the nature of our community: sharing, growing, celebrating and supporting. This year’s Lab Talks was an excellent event, uniting us in our shared purpose of discovery research for better health. My thanks to the organising team for their superb work and my congratulations to everyone recognised by an award.”