Dr Harun Rashid is a graduate of the very first MIBTP cohort at Warwick, graduating with his PhD in 2016.

As well as publishing the following papers as a result of his PhD research, he was also recently selected and awarded the Prestigious Fulbright Visiting Scholarship 2021-2022 for Postdoctoral Study in the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

1. Rashid, M.H.A., Cheng, W. and Thomas, B. 2019. Temporal and Spatial Expression of Arabidopsis Gene Homologs Control Daylength Adaptation and Bulb Formation in Onion (Allium cepa L.). Scientific Reports, 9: 14629. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51262-1

2. Rashid, M.H.A. and Thomas, B. 2019. Diurnal Expression of Arabidopsis Gene Homologs during Daylength-Regulated Bulb Formation in Onion (Allium cepa L.). Scientia Horticulturae, 261: 108946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2019.108946

Final year Warwick student, Hadyn Parker, attended the Acid Fast Club Winter 2021 meeting on 8th January. The conference consisted of predominantly UK based Tuberculosis researchers and experts, of which approximately 140 people were in attendance. His abstract on ‘Asymmetric trehalose analogues to probe disaccharide processing pathways in mycobacteria’ had been selected for a talk and he presented a 20 minute presentation (Via Zoom). Hadyn's talk was voted by members as being the best early career presentation of the conference.

Final year Leicester student Kellie, won the best poster prize and sponsor choice best research image at the Molecular and cell biology PhD student symposium in September this year.

Sophie Edwards, Birmingham final year student, was awarded the 2020 American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) International Student Award, based upon her publication in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

MIBTP student Andy Gladman is this year’s runner up in the Marsh Horticultural Science Award presented in collaboration with the RHS. The award recognises the exceptional progress Andy has made in his research on the management of aphid pests in Brassica crops. Find out more.

Final year Warwick student, Hadyn recently (February 2020) had success at the Mycobacterial Heterogeneity & Host Tissue Tropism symposium in New Delhi, India where he presented his research and was awarded the top emerging cellular microbiologist prize for his poster and research.

The data he presented was recently published, as 1^st author (and 1^st publication) in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry where he synthesised novel analogues of the sugar trehalose and investigated their uptake and metabolism in mycobacteria using a range of biochemical techniques.

Birmingham MIBTP student Alex has been awarded a Wellcome Trust ISSF Accelerator fellowship of £60,000.

Alex will use this money to visit the University of Melbourne for 9 months in 2021 to develop adeno-associated viral methods of tagging of extracellular vesicle proteins. This work will help to improve understanding of the biological significance of extracellular vesicles and puts him in a great position to apply for further funding.

Congratulations also to Alex; he has just submitted his PhD thesis and on completion of his viva and any corrections, will soon be Dr Alex Seabright.

MIBTP Birmingham student Lydia Hickman, along with other members of the Cook Lab, has been awarded a Researcher Resilience Fund grant ($5000) from Universitas 21 for the project “Towards better informed, more inclusive autism research: Building the U21 Autism Research Network”. The University of Birmingham are the main site in a collaboration with 5 other universities (University of Connecticut, USA; University of New South Wales, Australia; University of Auckland, New Zealand; Waseda University, Japan; McMaster University, Canada). 

The project aims to make a starting point in addressing challenges to collaboration across borders as well as the lack of diversity and inclusion in autism research. There are two main goals:

1. To build an online international database of autistic participants in order that members of the U21 network can recruit from a more diverse pool and thus, that our research findings may be applicable to a wider portion of society.
2. To organise a public engagement event to address issues of diversity and inclusion in autism research.

You can learn more about this project on the groups Twitter page; with a website to follow soon.

Anna York, a recent MIBTP Warwick graduate, has been awarded an OSCA (Outstanding Student Contribution Award). The OSCAs recognise and celebrate the outstanding contributions of Warwick’s students. They not only excel academically, but also find the time to campaign for good causes, fundraise, start small business, and work with local charities.

Anna has been very active during her time at Warwick, both during her undergraduate studies and throughout her Doctorate of Philosophy in Biological Sciences.

Whilst studying for her Undergraduate degree, Anna, along with a group of fellow students, set up, a club for able-bodied and disabled young people aged 11 – 19, in Leamington Spa. Anna continued her commitment, whilst studying for her PhD, becoming President for a number of years. Central to the function of Phab, Anna undertook training, allowing her to work with the disabled and trained others in disability awareness, enhancing the capabilities of Warwick Youth Phab. The club provided and continues to provide, a fully inclusive environment in which young people are able to socialise with a wide range of activities.

Anna was on the organising committee for the Women in Science initiative as part of Athena Swann. Anna obtained funding and coordinated events, raising consciousness amongst the Warwick scientific community of the challenges faced by women in the pursuit of scientific careers.

In 2016 Anna volunteered for Warwick Marrow due to her awareness of the impact of those illnesses for which bone marrow donation is essential to treatment.

Anna’s postgraduate research relates to antibiotic resistance and as part of this drive to further awareness of antibiotic resistance she helped organise and run an antibiotic awareness day. Anna and some of her fellow postgraduates provided practical experience of microbiology and the basic science and issues surrounding antibiotic resistance to 233 Key Stage 3 pupils over two days at two schools. As a direct result of this outreach experience, Anna co-authored a published paper outlining the delivery and impact of this work.

Apart from these fantastic achievements, Anna also contributed to several other causes and activities on campus such as Staff Student Liaison Committee and worked as a resident tutor, supporting students as they make the transition from living at home to living and working as students.

Anna is continuing her research as a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale School of Public Health.

Jess Watts, a Warwick 2017 student, is the 2019 recipient of the Brewster Scholarship, which is awarded to an SLS PhD student in their second year of research whose work relates to crop improvement. The scholarship is funded by a generous donation in memory of Dr Jim Brewster, a former member of Wellesbourne staff. The title of Jess's project is The role of secretion in phosphate uptake in Brassica; a description of the project is as follows:

Phosphate is an essential macronutrient required for crop growth, however its availability is often a limiting factor hindering crop yield, especially as the majority of phosphate within soil is inaccessible as organic phosphate. Many plants have adapted ways to improve the accessibility of phosphate, such as through the secretion of various compounds into the surrounding soil which help to mobilise the phosphate and improve uptake. I am looking at how Brassica crops which have differing phosphate efficiencies cope with low phosphate conditions compared to high phosphate conditions, with particular interest in the proteomic changes of the roots and the root secretions. If we can pin point what is different about the crops which are efficient in phosphate acquisition during low phosphate conditions, then we can use this to improve the efficiency of crop lines, improving phosphate utilisation and consequently enhance growth.

Carys Howell, a 3rd year Birmingham MIBTP student, received a travel grant, the FEBs youth travel fund (YTF), to attend the Europhosphatase 2019 conference. The travel grant covered the conference fee, accommodation and money towards travel costs.

Carys attended the conference, which took place 11th-16th June; at which she also won a poster prize.

Marta Poblocka, a Leicester 3rd year MIBTP student, recently won 1st prize for best poster and 2nd prize for best abstract at the University of Leicester student symposium. The title of Marta's poster and abstract was: Targeting Senescent Cells with Antibody-Drug Conjugates.

Eline Hendrix, Birmingham 2016 MIBTP student, was awarded the best poster prize at the recent Midlands Academy of Medical Sciences Research Festival. The festival is a unique biomedical and health research event designed to bring early career researchers together to present their work, meet one another and to network with senior researchers. This year's event took place on 27th March 2019 at Edgbaston Park Hotel and Conference Centre in Birmingham and focussed on three research areas: Diabetes, Cancer and Respiratory Science. Eline was one of 55 PhD students/post-docs to present a poster.

Final year University of Warwick student Robyn Wright was awarded best seminar presentation voted by staff in memory of Xue Jiang at the recent Student Symposium. Robyn's talk was entitled Food or a free ride? The ability of a marine microbial community to degrade plastics.

Third year MIBTP Warwick student Christian Moller-Olsen was awarded one to top five posters at the University of Warwick Student Symposium. His poster was entitled Molecular and cellular mechanisms of in vitro phage therapy.