Submitted by J. Hudson on Tue, 31/03/2026 - 11:40
Last Wednesday’s Spring Research Afternoon at the West Hub was a fantastic success - a vibrant and well-attended event that truly showcased the breadth and quality of research taking place across our community.
The programme featured excellent keynote and invited speakers, including Dr Andrew George Baker, who delivered a fascinating talk on dynamic nanoparticles and their role in visualising and sensing biology, and Ruchi Sharma (CEO, Stemnovate Ltd), who shared valuable insights into cell reprogramming, stem cells and multiomics in the context of animal health.
It was also incredibly useful to hear from colleagues in communications, who provided practical guidance on how to amplify research to a global audience - an important reminder of the role effective storytelling and engagement play in extending the reach and impact of our work and can also, in turn help to amplify the reach of the Department.
The blitz talks brought energy and variety to the afternoon, and a special congratulations goes to Freddie McNay, a PhD student in Transmissible Cancer Group who won with his talk titled “A dramatic amplification of ribosomal DNA in an ancient transmissible cancer”
We’re also delighted to celebrate Ellen Schofield, Bioinformatician in Canine Genetics Centre, won the best Poster competition with the poster titled "Whole-genome sequencing identifies a candidate pathogenic variant for osteogenesis imperfecta in a Miniature Schnauzer"
Well done to everyone involved in organising the afternoon - especially to Fiona Roby and Margarida Dias Rodrigues and to Professor Julian Parkhill for hosting. Events like this take a huge amount of effort behind the scenes, and it really paid off - the strong turnout and enthusiastic engagement made it a great success.
And of course, congratulations to all who presented and contributed. It was a fantastic reminder of the wide ranging and impactful research happening right across our Vet School community.