Research » Events

02/06 1:30pm-2:30pm: BSc Health and Medical Sciences dissertation poster showcase event

Web Editor — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 22:23:39 GMT

When: 1:30pm - 2:30pm, Tue, 02 Jun '26

Where: GLT3

The poster showcasing event celebrates BSc Health and Medical Sciences finalists' dissertation project efforts by showcasing their project posters. We invite all staff at WMS to peruse the posters, chat to students and their project supervisors about their research projects. This a great chance to see the wide range of projects undergraduate students have undertaken; from lab-based projects, social science research to systematic reviews and service evaluations.

This will be held in GLT3 (Medical School Building) at 1:30-2:3pm on Tuesday 2nd June.

Refreshments will be provided.

17/06 1:15pm-2:15pm: BMS Seminar: Dr Kate McDole, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge

Web Editor — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 11:27:06 GMT

When: 1:15pm - 2:15pm, Wed, 17 Jun '26

Where: IBRB Lecture Theatre, Gibbet Hill Campus

15/07 1:15pm-2:15pm: BMS Seminar: Professor Scott Waddell, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford

Web Editor — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 11:47:04 GMT

When: 1:15pm - 2:15pm, Wed, 15 Jul '26

Where: IBRB Lecture Theatre, Gibbet Hill Campus

05/05 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Straube lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:04:45 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 05 May '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

12/05 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Bretschneider lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:05:55 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 12 May '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

19/05 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Balasubramanian lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:07:04 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 19 May '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

02/06 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - CAMDU

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:08:21 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 02 Jun '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

09/06 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Bowman lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:09:38 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 09 Jun '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

16/06 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Saunders lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:10:36 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 16 Jun '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

23/06 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - McAinsh lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:11:51 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 23 Jun '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

30/06 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Mayor lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:12:59 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 30 Jun '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

07/07 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Sampath lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:14:13 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 07 Jul '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

14/07 1pm-2pm: CMCB Lab Talk - Royle lab

Web Editor — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:15:07 GMT

When: 1pm - 2pm, Tue, 14 Jul '26

Where: CTU T0.08/9

29/04 9am-01/05 7pm: AI BioImage Hackathon

Web Editor — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:22:45 GMT

When: 9am, Wed, 29 Apr '26 - 7pm, Fri, 01 May '26

08/05-09/05: Mechanochemistry of Molecular Motors and Cytoskeletal Filaments

Web Editor — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 11:19:27 GMT

When: Fri, 08 May - Sat, 09 May '26

Where: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick

A focused scientific meeting on cytoskeletal filaments and molecular motors - the cellular machinery that drives cell division, cell migration and the motility and correct distribution of organelles. The programme will include inspiring keynotes from Joe Howard and Kristen Verhey, and provide many speaking opportunities for postdocs and students. Further, we will celebrate the career of Rob Cross and his contributions to kinesin and tubulin biophysics as he transitions into life as Emeritus Professor. The event will also be available via Livestream.

05/06 1:15pm-2:15pm: BMS Seminar: Collective state transitions in epithelial dynamics through mechanochemical feedback, Dr Tsuyoshi Hirashima, Mechanobiology Institute/Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore

Web Editor — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 08:22:06 GMT

When: 1:15pm - 2:15pm, Fri, 05 Jun '26

Where: MTC Lecture Theatre , Gibbet Hill Campus

Abstract: Collective cell motion is a fundamental phenomenon at the interface of cell biology, developmental biology, and non-equilibrium physics. However, how mechanical and chemical cues are integrated at the cellular level to generate coordinated multicellular behaviours remains incompletely understood. In this talk, I will present a mechano-signalling feedback mechanism that couples ERK activity with mechanical force generation and cell movement, giving rise to robust spatiotemporal coordination observed both in vitro and in vivo. I will first review prior work establishing ERK-mediated feedback as a prototypical example of an active epithelial system, in which biochemical signalling and mechanics are dynamically intertwined. Building on this framework, I will then introduce our recent findings that reveal two distinct but coupled types of transitions governing collective dynamics: a rigidity transition, which modulates the mechanical state of the tissue, and a percolation transition, which controls the connectivity required for long-range signal propagation. I will discuss how the interplay between these transitions defines the dynamical regimes of epithelial tissues and enables the emergence of coordinated patterns of activity.

Biography: Tsuyoshi Hirashima was trained as a mathematical biologist and received his Ph.D. from Kyushu University in 2011. During his Ph.D. training, he studied mathematical modeling on tissue morphogenesis in development under the mentorship of Prof. Yoh Iwasa. He moved to Kyoto University as a JSPS postdoc research fellow and learned experimental skills in cell and developmental biology at Prof. Ryoichiro Kageyama’s lab. He then joined the faculty of Kyoto University as an Assistant Professor in 2014, a senior lecturer in 2017, and an Associate Professor at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research in 2021. He has since joined MBI in 2022 to further pursue his scientific and personal curiosity. He has been on the editorial board of Journal of Theoretical Biology since 2022.

29/04 1:15pm-2:15pm: BMS Seminar: The chemo-mechanical regulation of brain development, Professor Kristian Franze, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge

Web Editor — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:00:49 GMT

When: 1:15pm - 2:15pm, Wed, 29 Apr '26

Where: MTC Lecture Theatre , Gibbet Hill Campus

Abstract: During development, cells are highly dynamic and respond to a plethora of chemical and mechanical signal in their environment. During brain morphogenesis, for example, neurons extend axons over large distances along well-defined pathways. How these axons are formed is currently poorly understood, and once initiated, how axons know where to grow and connect is also still an open question. Axon pathfinding is regulated by both gradients of chemical guidance cues and gradients in tissue stiffness. However, we currently know very little about how these signals interact. Using a combination of ex vivo and in vivo approaches, we identified the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 as a key integrator of chemical and mechanical signals. Downregulation of Piezo1 in the brain parenchyma surrounding healthy growing axons led to aberrant neuronal growth patterns with reduced fasciculation and pathfinding errors. We found a decrease in both the chemical guidance cues Semaphorin3A and Slit1 and brain stiffness. While the stiffness of cells was unaffected, cell-cell adhesion was significantly reduced, leading to a fluidization of the tissue. While a decrease in chemical guidance cues did not lead to tissue softening, tissue softening led to a decrease in guidance cues. Hence, tissue stiffness not only directly impacts neuronal growth but also indirectly by regulating the availability of long-range chemical guidance cues far away from the actual mechanical signal in the surrounding tissue. Our data thus strongly indicate that chemical and mechanical signaling pathways are intimately linked, and that their interaction is crucial for morphogenetic events.

Biography: Kristian Franze qualified as a Veterinarian at the University of Leipzig in Germany, where he also obtained a PhD in Physics in 2007. After a postdoc at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, UK, he started his lab in 2011 at the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience in Cambridge. Kristian received several awards for his work, including an MRC Career Development Award, an HFSP Young Investigator Award, an ERC Consolidator Award, and an ERC Synergy Grant. In 2020, he obtained an Alexander von Humboldt-Professorship to become the Director of the Medical Institute of Biophysics at FAU and of the newly founded Max Planck Zentrum für Physik und Medizin in Erlangen, Germany. The research of his lab focuses on how mechanical signals, such as cellular forces or tissue stiffness, contribute to regulating the development and regeneration of the nervous system.