The March 2022 edition of CIRcuits, monthly interval newsletter for the Centre for Inflammation Research HTML CIRcuits March 2022 View in browser | Forward to a friend March 2022 Director's foreword Dear CIR Colleagues,As spring approaches, I would like to highlight the significant successes of all CIR staff, some of which are highlighted in this issue of CIRcuits. Other successes have occurred too recently or are not yet through embargo periods, but will be announced soon. I would like to say a collective thank you to all CIR staff who have been working tirelessly through a very challenging period and have still managed to generate a very high level of productivity and excellence. As I have said, these have been difficult times and many colleagues are still dealing with major challenges. I am grateful to everyone for continuing to help and support all colleagues who have needed extra support in this period. This collegiate spirit is essential as we move forward. Best wishes, David DockrellCentre Director In this issue Centre UpdatesPeopleFeaturesPublic engagement newsEvents, seminars and trainingResearch and funding news Centre Updates Welcome to the March Newsletter. In it, you will find news of how to access the tours of our new IRR home, with a move still projected for Nov/Dec 2022, news on changes to the travel policy and providers, and a number of features highlighting the phenomenal success of our colleagues. If you have any news that you would like to share with colleagues across CIR, or news that you would like to hear about, please do get in touch. This is your newsletter so please feel free to request the information you would like included. Paul FitchCentre Manager Tours of the New IRR Building Work on the new IRR building and expansion project continues and IRR staff and students are now being invited to tour the new building. Weekly tours can be booked at the link below.Tours that include the building expansion will begin in May 2022. Please expect further communication on how you can be involved in consultation sessions regarding the new building and the move process. Book a tour of the new IRR building COVID Reporting and Hybrid Working As we approach the 21st March date for the removal of legal restrictions, please continue to make reference to the hybrid working framework when planning for future working arrangements and for what we hope will be a return to a more vibrant and active working environment. We appreciate that many members of the community will welcome the removal of legal restrictions, while some others, including those with pre-existing health conditions, will feel more anxious. We continue to encourage us all to treat each other with consideration, respect, and compassion.It remains critical that students and staff let the University know if they need to self-isolate. This enables our internal health and safety processes to be initiated and puts in place the support that our students may need. A reminder that the guidance and forms are available below: Covid-19 reporting and recording process and guidanceReporting and self-isolation guidance for students and staffPlease ensure that you notify your line manager and CIR.HR@ed.ac.uk of both the start and finish of any absence period. The latest Scottish Government guidance on self-isolation for people with possible Coronavirus infection is available at: NHS Inform Scotland. University Travel: What's Changed? As Covid-19 restrictions continue to lift, opportunities to travel on University business will become more frequent.This month, there are two new and important changes to University travel: The University's Sustainable Travel Policy is now live;We're using a new travel management company - Diversity Travel - to book travel and accommodation for University business. Diversity Travel’s new booking portal will be ready to use on 1 March 2022 and is similar to our previous tool provided by Key Travel. Find out more and book Diversity Travel training sessions People Welcome to our new starts! Beth MillsUKRI Future Leaders Fellow, new PI as of March 2022. Hazel StewartTranslational Engineering Fellow working with Kev Dhaliwal, started 1 March 2022.Jennifer RynnePostdoctoral Researcher working with Manu Shankar-Hari, started on 1 March 2022.Yanzi ZhouPhD student with Mark Vendrell. Working on “Novel fluorescence imaging probes of host-pathogen interactions.” Features Awards & Successes Tam Dalyell Prize awarded for endometriosis engagement Philippa Saunders Andrew HorneCongratulations to CIR's Philippa Saunders and CRH's Andrew Horne for being awarded the annual Tam Dalyell Award for excellence in engaging the public with science.The prize is awarded in recognition of their work on endometriosis, and their attention to lived experience and the needs of people with endometriosis in their research.Philippa and Andrew will deliver the Tam Dalyell Prize Lecture on 10 April, 6pm, in the Playfair Library. £100k awarded to engage with eczema Congratulations to Sara Brown, along with colleagues at IGC, for being awarded £100k from the ScotPen Wellcome Engagement Award for an engagement project exploring the lived experiences of patients, families and carers affected by eczema.This multidisciplinary project will use an art-science approach, using synthetic speech synthesis, professional voice acting talent, and participant voices to create an audio library of voiced patient experience with eczema.Sara is based at the IGC, in CGEM, and has joint affiliation with CIR. Viva SuccessCongratulations to Chris Vink for passing his viva! “Capturing the first haematopoietic stem cell: The needle in the haystack.” Supervised by Professor Elaine Dzierzak, Dr Katrin Ottersbach on 04/02/2022. Virtual Coffee Break - Introductions Current restrictions mean that we're not able to see familiar faces in the Centre as much. It also means that many of our newer members of staff haven't had the chance to introduce themselves properly. That's where coffee-break introductions come in! For the duration of the pandemic we will be offering the chance to virtually bump into our community members in the corridors of CIRcuits. Isobel Mouat Isobel Mouat Hello CIR! I joined Laura McCulloch's group in January after finishing my PhD in Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia. During my PhD, I studied how B cells mediate the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus infection and multiple sclerosis. Here, as a postdoc, I am excited to investigate changes to the B and T cell populations following stroke, and how those changes might relate to increased susceptibility to viral and bacterial infections. Outside of the lab I am excited to explore Edinburgh and Scotland alongside my pup. Nisreen Al-Namnam Nisreen Al-NamnamI am a dentist by background. I finished my Master's degree (MDSc) in the field of Bone Tissue Engineering, and Ph.D. degree in the field of hard tissue and regenerative biology. Along with my work in research, I worked as a senior lecturer teaching Biology and anatomy. I joined the CIR as a Postdoctoral Fellow in January 2022, after moving to Edinburgh from Newcastle University where I was a research associate. Currently, I am leading research into the biological effects of ultrasonic cutting. Briefly, there is huge potential for ultrasonic devices to enable new minimal access surgeries, offering higher precision, much lower force, better preservation of delicate structures, low thermal damage and, importantly, enabling more procedures to be carried out on an out-patient or day surgery basis. By integrating with innovative flexible, tentacle-like surgical robots, we will bring ultrasonic devices deep into the human body, along tortuous pathways to the surgical site, to deliver unparalleled precision. We will quantify the effects of high intensity ultrasonic wave-fields in tissue, at and surrounding the site of surgery, in terms of precision cutting, tissue damage (mechanical damage, thermal necrosis, cavitation) but also the potential to aid regeneration. We will perform biophysical analysis, as well as histological and clinical assessment, to develop a combined approach to the characterisation of both damage and regeneration of tissue. Through this holistic approach to device design, we will create ultrasonic surgical devices tailored for optimised cutting and healing. I strongly believe in the importance of great teamwork and behaving in a professional manner that ensures I achieve my goals while helping others achieve theirs. Emily Watts Emily Watts I completed my PhD with Professors Sarah Walmsley and Moira Whyte at CIR in 2019, investigating the role of hypoxia in regulating neutrophilic inflammation in the lung. I have spent the last couple of years doing predominantly clinical work, completing my training in Respiratory Medicine.I was delighted to be awarded a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship which I will start in March. Support from colleagues at CIR (especially the Walmsley/Whyte group) and the wider IRR community was essential in achieving this. The focus of my research is to delineate the role of protein synthesis in the regulation of neutrophilic inflammation in the lung, with a specific focus on the role of the nutrient sensing kinases mTORC and AMPK. As part of this project, I'll be working in Vancouver for 6 months with Dr Chris Carlsten at the Air Pollution Exposure Lab at UBC. I'll then return to CIR for the remainder of my fellowship and am really looking forward to continuing to work in this brilliant and collaborative research environment. The Academy of Medical Sciences – FLIER Leadership Programme AMS is excited to announce that applications for the next FLIER Programme cohort (Future Leaders in Innovation, Enterprise and Research) will be open until 18 March 2022 (internal CMVM deadline of 9 March). This unique two-year programme develops leaders of the future who can create collaborations across academia, industry, the NHS and government to drive innovation.Applicants must get approval from their host organisation to apply. There is a section of the form that must be completed on behalf of the institution.Please provide Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the application form in a word document and submit to jennifer.cusiter@ed.ac.uk by end of the day on Wednesday 9th March.“The FLIER programme was a fantastic opportunity to improve my skills in areas I hadn’t had any formal training before, like collaborative leadership or team management. It also allowed me to expand massively my network and build contacts with members from sectors I had not worked with in the past. I highly recommend it as a programme for those interested in becoming the future leaders of biomedical research.” - Professor Marc Vendrell Find out more and apply Public Engagement News Featured Engagement IRR Science Festival group visits Niddrie Mill Primary School to build vaccinesOn Monday 21 February, six members of the IRR Science Festival subcommittee visited a P5/6 class at Niddrie Mill Primary School to talk about the immune system and vaccines.School pupils were challenged to build new vaccines to protect their bunnies from a new strain of "bunny flu." Read more about the school visit Want to engage with science festivals or schools? Joing one of our committees!Contact Molly.Osborn@ed.ac.uk if you are interested in getting involved. Find out more about the IRR PE Committees Training Creating and Running a PPI GroupWednesday 6 April 202210:00 - 13:00, Delivered via Zoom Are you struggling with where to begin in setting up a PPI group? Wondering how to keep an existing panel going? Unsure if a panel is the best means to conduct PPI in your research? In this course, we will discuss how to advertise and recruit patient and public members, organise your first meeting and how to keep your PPI group running successfully and sustainably.Book a place on the course A bit of fun... Guess Who As a bit of light-hearted distraction from your normal emails, we're running a 'Guess Who?' with mystery Centre members.Can you tell who this is?Please contact Emma Watson using the link in the footer if you have a childhood photo you would like to share. Last Edition Last edition's photo belonged to Professor Jurgen Schwarze, Child Life and Health. March Quiz: Instruments Can you figure out the answers to these musical/percussion instrument-themed riddles? A French paperclipIt got lost in BermudaA cold summer treat at the seasideUsed for drinking champagneSteve Wigmore transplants these Look out for the answers in the next edition!Last edition's answers to the US state-themed quiz:The Bee Gees didn’t actually ever go here (Answer: Massachusetts)Professor Jones, archaeologist (Answer: Indiana)Joseph might live here too (Answer: Maryland)Is this the principal state? (Answer: Maine)Also a famous American rapper (Answer: Flo-rida) Events, seminars and training Seminars CIR Seminar SeriesTuesdays12:00-13:00 CIR Research in ProgressThursdays13:00-14:00 IRR SeminarsTuesdays 12:00-13:00>>More infoCRM SeminarsThursdays 12:00-13:00 Events calendar MAR82022 International Women's DayThis United Nations-founded day celebrates women's achievements and increases visibility, while calling out inequality MAR102022 World Kidney DayA global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of the kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney disease APR102022 Tam Dalyell Prize Lecture, 6pm, Playfair LibraryPhilippa Saunders and Andrew Horne will share their perspectives on engaging with people with lived experience of endometriosis. Symposium - A Cell for all Seasons: Macrophages in Health & Disease Save the date!A Cell for all Seasons: Macrophages in Health and DiseaseWednesday 1 June 2022, 9am – 5pmQMRI Wellcome AuditoriumThis annual symposium already has a line up of great speakers, including keynote speaker Florent Ginhoux, so please put this date in your diary. PhD students and early career researchers will have the opportunity to give 5 minute presentations and great prizes will be up for grabs! More details will follow shortly. Training opportunities Online Training Resources | The University of Edinburgh Access University training via LinkedIn Learning Technician Career Development Infographic Research and funding news Research Professional and other live funding opportunitiesTo access a Research Professional search featuring relevant calls over the next two months, visit the Research Professional funding calls page.As well as CIR-relevant opportunities, remember that the Edinburgh Research Office has created a Funding Opportunities & Insights Hub which includes an up-to-date calendar. Want to get involved with the newsletter? We are looking to create a contributing team for this newsletter, made up of students, postdocs and any other staff who want to help shape its content. Are you an aspiring writer, podcaster, budding cartoonist or keen to put CIR community events, resources and people on the map? Get in touch using the link in the footer. Suggestions? Anything you'd like us to include in the next edition?Contact us about content or improvements for this newsletter.Follow usFollow us on Twitter The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. If you no longer wish to receive emails from us then please unsubscribe or amend your settings. This article was published on 2024-09-10
HTML CIRcuits March 2022 View in browser | Forward to a friend March 2022 Director's foreword Dear CIR Colleagues,As spring approaches, I would like to highlight the significant successes of all CIR staff, some of which are highlighted in this issue of CIRcuits. Other successes have occurred too recently or are not yet through embargo periods, but will be announced soon. I would like to say a collective thank you to all CIR staff who have been working tirelessly through a very challenging period and have still managed to generate a very high level of productivity and excellence. As I have said, these have been difficult times and many colleagues are still dealing with major challenges. I am grateful to everyone for continuing to help and support all colleagues who have needed extra support in this period. This collegiate spirit is essential as we move forward. Best wishes, David DockrellCentre Director In this issue Centre UpdatesPeopleFeaturesPublic engagement newsEvents, seminars and trainingResearch and funding news Centre Updates Welcome to the March Newsletter. In it, you will find news of how to access the tours of our new IRR home, with a move still projected for Nov/Dec 2022, news on changes to the travel policy and providers, and a number of features highlighting the phenomenal success of our colleagues. If you have any news that you would like to share with colleagues across CIR, or news that you would like to hear about, please do get in touch. This is your newsletter so please feel free to request the information you would like included. Paul FitchCentre Manager Tours of the New IRR Building Work on the new IRR building and expansion project continues and IRR staff and students are now being invited to tour the new building. Weekly tours can be booked at the link below.Tours that include the building expansion will begin in May 2022. Please expect further communication on how you can be involved in consultation sessions regarding the new building and the move process. Book a tour of the new IRR building COVID Reporting and Hybrid Working As we approach the 21st March date for the removal of legal restrictions, please continue to make reference to the hybrid working framework when planning for future working arrangements and for what we hope will be a return to a more vibrant and active working environment. We appreciate that many members of the community will welcome the removal of legal restrictions, while some others, including those with pre-existing health conditions, will feel more anxious. We continue to encourage us all to treat each other with consideration, respect, and compassion.It remains critical that students and staff let the University know if they need to self-isolate. This enables our internal health and safety processes to be initiated and puts in place the support that our students may need. A reminder that the guidance and forms are available below: Covid-19 reporting and recording process and guidanceReporting and self-isolation guidance for students and staffPlease ensure that you notify your line manager and CIR.HR@ed.ac.uk of both the start and finish of any absence period. The latest Scottish Government guidance on self-isolation for people with possible Coronavirus infection is available at: NHS Inform Scotland. University Travel: What's Changed? As Covid-19 restrictions continue to lift, opportunities to travel on University business will become more frequent.This month, there are two new and important changes to University travel: The University's Sustainable Travel Policy is now live;We're using a new travel management company - Diversity Travel - to book travel and accommodation for University business. Diversity Travel’s new booking portal will be ready to use on 1 March 2022 and is similar to our previous tool provided by Key Travel. Find out more and book Diversity Travel training sessions People Welcome to our new starts! Beth MillsUKRI Future Leaders Fellow, new PI as of March 2022. Hazel StewartTranslational Engineering Fellow working with Kev Dhaliwal, started 1 March 2022.Jennifer RynnePostdoctoral Researcher working with Manu Shankar-Hari, started on 1 March 2022.Yanzi ZhouPhD student with Mark Vendrell. Working on “Novel fluorescence imaging probes of host-pathogen interactions.” Features Awards & Successes Tam Dalyell Prize awarded for endometriosis engagement Philippa Saunders Andrew HorneCongratulations to CIR's Philippa Saunders and CRH's Andrew Horne for being awarded the annual Tam Dalyell Award for excellence in engaging the public with science.The prize is awarded in recognition of their work on endometriosis, and their attention to lived experience and the needs of people with endometriosis in their research.Philippa and Andrew will deliver the Tam Dalyell Prize Lecture on 10 April, 6pm, in the Playfair Library. £100k awarded to engage with eczema Congratulations to Sara Brown, along with colleagues at IGC, for being awarded £100k from the ScotPen Wellcome Engagement Award for an engagement project exploring the lived experiences of patients, families and carers affected by eczema.This multidisciplinary project will use an art-science approach, using synthetic speech synthesis, professional voice acting talent, and participant voices to create an audio library of voiced patient experience with eczema.Sara is based at the IGC, in CGEM, and has joint affiliation with CIR. Viva SuccessCongratulations to Chris Vink for passing his viva! “Capturing the first haematopoietic stem cell: The needle in the haystack.” Supervised by Professor Elaine Dzierzak, Dr Katrin Ottersbach on 04/02/2022. Virtual Coffee Break - Introductions Current restrictions mean that we're not able to see familiar faces in the Centre as much. It also means that many of our newer members of staff haven't had the chance to introduce themselves properly. That's where coffee-break introductions come in! For the duration of the pandemic we will be offering the chance to virtually bump into our community members in the corridors of CIRcuits. Isobel Mouat Isobel Mouat Hello CIR! I joined Laura McCulloch's group in January after finishing my PhD in Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia. During my PhD, I studied how B cells mediate the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus infection and multiple sclerosis. Here, as a postdoc, I am excited to investigate changes to the B and T cell populations following stroke, and how those changes might relate to increased susceptibility to viral and bacterial infections. Outside of the lab I am excited to explore Edinburgh and Scotland alongside my pup. Nisreen Al-Namnam Nisreen Al-NamnamI am a dentist by background. I finished my Master's degree (MDSc) in the field of Bone Tissue Engineering, and Ph.D. degree in the field of hard tissue and regenerative biology. Along with my work in research, I worked as a senior lecturer teaching Biology and anatomy. I joined the CIR as a Postdoctoral Fellow in January 2022, after moving to Edinburgh from Newcastle University where I was a research associate. Currently, I am leading research into the biological effects of ultrasonic cutting. Briefly, there is huge potential for ultrasonic devices to enable new minimal access surgeries, offering higher precision, much lower force, better preservation of delicate structures, low thermal damage and, importantly, enabling more procedures to be carried out on an out-patient or day surgery basis. By integrating with innovative flexible, tentacle-like surgical robots, we will bring ultrasonic devices deep into the human body, along tortuous pathways to the surgical site, to deliver unparalleled precision. We will quantify the effects of high intensity ultrasonic wave-fields in tissue, at and surrounding the site of surgery, in terms of precision cutting, tissue damage (mechanical damage, thermal necrosis, cavitation) but also the potential to aid regeneration. We will perform biophysical analysis, as well as histological and clinical assessment, to develop a combined approach to the characterisation of both damage and regeneration of tissue. Through this holistic approach to device design, we will create ultrasonic surgical devices tailored for optimised cutting and healing. I strongly believe in the importance of great teamwork and behaving in a professional manner that ensures I achieve my goals while helping others achieve theirs. Emily Watts Emily Watts I completed my PhD with Professors Sarah Walmsley and Moira Whyte at CIR in 2019, investigating the role of hypoxia in regulating neutrophilic inflammation in the lung. I have spent the last couple of years doing predominantly clinical work, completing my training in Respiratory Medicine.I was delighted to be awarded a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship which I will start in March. Support from colleagues at CIR (especially the Walmsley/Whyte group) and the wider IRR community was essential in achieving this. The focus of my research is to delineate the role of protein synthesis in the regulation of neutrophilic inflammation in the lung, with a specific focus on the role of the nutrient sensing kinases mTORC and AMPK. As part of this project, I'll be working in Vancouver for 6 months with Dr Chris Carlsten at the Air Pollution Exposure Lab at UBC. I'll then return to CIR for the remainder of my fellowship and am really looking forward to continuing to work in this brilliant and collaborative research environment. The Academy of Medical Sciences – FLIER Leadership Programme AMS is excited to announce that applications for the next FLIER Programme cohort (Future Leaders in Innovation, Enterprise and Research) will be open until 18 March 2022 (internal CMVM deadline of 9 March). This unique two-year programme develops leaders of the future who can create collaborations across academia, industry, the NHS and government to drive innovation.Applicants must get approval from their host organisation to apply. There is a section of the form that must be completed on behalf of the institution.Please provide Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the application form in a word document and submit to jennifer.cusiter@ed.ac.uk by end of the day on Wednesday 9th March.“The FLIER programme was a fantastic opportunity to improve my skills in areas I hadn’t had any formal training before, like collaborative leadership or team management. It also allowed me to expand massively my network and build contacts with members from sectors I had not worked with in the past. I highly recommend it as a programme for those interested in becoming the future leaders of biomedical research.” - Professor Marc Vendrell Find out more and apply Public Engagement News Featured Engagement IRR Science Festival group visits Niddrie Mill Primary School to build vaccinesOn Monday 21 February, six members of the IRR Science Festival subcommittee visited a P5/6 class at Niddrie Mill Primary School to talk about the immune system and vaccines.School pupils were challenged to build new vaccines to protect their bunnies from a new strain of "bunny flu." Read more about the school visit Want to engage with science festivals or schools? Joing one of our committees!Contact Molly.Osborn@ed.ac.uk if you are interested in getting involved. Find out more about the IRR PE Committees Training Creating and Running a PPI GroupWednesday 6 April 202210:00 - 13:00, Delivered via Zoom Are you struggling with where to begin in setting up a PPI group? Wondering how to keep an existing panel going? Unsure if a panel is the best means to conduct PPI in your research? In this course, we will discuss how to advertise and recruit patient and public members, organise your first meeting and how to keep your PPI group running successfully and sustainably.Book a place on the course A bit of fun... Guess Who As a bit of light-hearted distraction from your normal emails, we're running a 'Guess Who?' with mystery Centre members.Can you tell who this is?Please contact Emma Watson using the link in the footer if you have a childhood photo you would like to share. Last Edition Last edition's photo belonged to Professor Jurgen Schwarze, Child Life and Health. March Quiz: Instruments Can you figure out the answers to these musical/percussion instrument-themed riddles? A French paperclipIt got lost in BermudaA cold summer treat at the seasideUsed for drinking champagneSteve Wigmore transplants these Look out for the answers in the next edition!Last edition's answers to the US state-themed quiz:The Bee Gees didn’t actually ever go here (Answer: Massachusetts)Professor Jones, archaeologist (Answer: Indiana)Joseph might live here too (Answer: Maryland)Is this the principal state? (Answer: Maine)Also a famous American rapper (Answer: Flo-rida) Events, seminars and training Seminars CIR Seminar SeriesTuesdays12:00-13:00 CIR Research in ProgressThursdays13:00-14:00 IRR SeminarsTuesdays 12:00-13:00>>More infoCRM SeminarsThursdays 12:00-13:00 Events calendar MAR82022 International Women's DayThis United Nations-founded day celebrates women's achievements and increases visibility, while calling out inequality MAR102022 World Kidney DayA global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of the kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney disease APR102022 Tam Dalyell Prize Lecture, 6pm, Playfair LibraryPhilippa Saunders and Andrew Horne will share their perspectives on engaging with people with lived experience of endometriosis. Symposium - A Cell for all Seasons: Macrophages in Health & Disease Save the date!A Cell for all Seasons: Macrophages in Health and DiseaseWednesday 1 June 2022, 9am – 5pmQMRI Wellcome AuditoriumThis annual symposium already has a line up of great speakers, including keynote speaker Florent Ginhoux, so please put this date in your diary. PhD students and early career researchers will have the opportunity to give 5 minute presentations and great prizes will be up for grabs! More details will follow shortly. Training opportunities Online Training Resources | The University of Edinburgh Access University training via LinkedIn Learning Technician Career Development Infographic Research and funding news Research Professional and other live funding opportunitiesTo access a Research Professional search featuring relevant calls over the next two months, visit the Research Professional funding calls page.As well as CIR-relevant opportunities, remember that the Edinburgh Research Office has created a Funding Opportunities & Insights Hub which includes an up-to-date calendar. Want to get involved with the newsletter? We are looking to create a contributing team for this newsletter, made up of students, postdocs and any other staff who want to help shape its content. Are you an aspiring writer, podcaster, budding cartoonist or keen to put CIR community events, resources and people on the map? Get in touch using the link in the footer. Suggestions? Anything you'd like us to include in the next edition?Contact us about content or improvements for this newsletter.Follow usFollow us on Twitter The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. If you no longer wish to receive emails from us then please unsubscribe or amend your settings.
