New students welcomed at Hoe event

Lecturer (crumpled shirt, wine glass) with two of his new first year tutees, Aradhana and Vivienne, at the annual greeting party up on the Hoe. Here is to a good year ahead!

Nuffield Scheme in the School

Millie Steel is studying at Plymouth's Notre Dame School and is here on a Nuffield Research Placement. This excellent scheme allows A level students to work alongside professionals in science, engineering and maths, and is intended to boost interest in these fields.

Millie (photographed below) is working with Vikram Sharma, who runs our Proteomics facility, looking at the proteomes of both Hela and some stem cells. This also involves her working with cell culture, protein electrophoresis and bioinformatics. She writes, " I think the Nuffield Placement is good because it enables students to practice advanced techniques that are beyond and above the A level syllabus. It also offers insights into the applications of Biomedicine in the world today".

Student in Berlin II

Guten Tag!

These past few weeks at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin have been fantastic, and we have had some great results so far. We have been able to characterize the Mustelid herpesviruses in different badger populations as intended, and have now turned our focus to cytomegaloviruses (CMV) found in Gorillas. 

We have been using PCR to analyze gorilla samples to detect the presence of CMV, followed by next generation sequencing to look at the variants of the virus in different gorilla populations. Bioinformatics software packages can be complicated to get used to, but I think they are valuable tools for anyone interested in post-graduate research; if you get the chance to explore these during your 3^rd year project, I would definitely recommend it. 

Kati 

Above: Gorilla samples positive for CMV 

(You can read Kati's first blog from Berlin posted on June 13th.)

Funding for School research

Professor Neil Avent has just obtained funding of £166,000 to commercialise blood group genotyping using next generation sequencing, which he has been developing over in our Systems Biology facility. The funding is for two years and has been obtained from Biofortuna Plc, Broxbourne, the Wirral. Below is Dr Kelly Sillence working on the sequencer when she was still a PhD student here. Kelly's work in the School will now be funded by this new grant.

Lecturer working for MRSA treatment

One of our lecturers, Mat Upton, is working with the firm Ingenza to take into patient treatment his research (and that of his collaborators) into new antibiotics. This article describes how Mat and the company are working together on this important project.

Student in Berlin

I have just finished my 3rd (and final) year of a Biomedical science degree at Plymouth university, and am travelling here to continue some work carried out by Nick Lyons and Lucy Davison in 2014. who aimed to characterize a Mustelid Herpesvirus; my visit has been organized by my project supervisor, Dr. Michael Jarvis, and by Dr. Bernhard Ehlers here in Berlin.

From the moment I arrived at the Robert Koch Institut, I have been extremely impressed with the facilities, the people, and of course the beautiful weather!  I will be spending around 6 weeks here in Berlin under the supervision of Dr. Bernhard Ehlers, and shall continue to build upon work that has been performed by researchers from collaborating groups, including Michael Jarvis’ laboratory at Plymouth University.

The support during my first few days here has been fantastic; with the guidance of Dr. Ehlers and the fabulous lab technician Connie, I have already successfully run a nested PCR, which will be sequenced early next week. I am eager to get as much experience in the lab as possible, and will keep you updated.

Kati

Awards Celebrate Teaching Stars

Students thank their 'stand out' academics and student representatives at the annual SSTAR Awards

Teaching and learning within the school is a partnership between students and staff.  This relationship is ably demonstrated at the annual Student Union’s SSTAR awards to celebrate academics and students who have gone the extra mile to help students achieve their learning goals. Among the winners from our school was Carole Stoddard, whose use of playdough breasts in cellular science saw her scoop the award for Most Innovative Use of Teaching Methods.  Carole said “I am deeply touched to receive this award. I'd like to thank all the students I have had the privilege to teach over the year for their commitment and the excitement they brought through collective engagement to bring these activities alive. I have also learned so much through them in regard to learning processes and their valuable feedback will continue to shape my teaching for years to come.” Further winners from the school included Arron Jackson for outstanding programme representative, Dr Andrew Foey for outstanding personal tutor and Dr Simon Fox for most dedicated project supervisor and effective feedback.