Tuesday 16 December 2014

Hepatocytes and Antioxidant Screening and Osteoarthritis Susceptibility

 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speakers:  Emily Hudson & Katherine Johnson

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, William Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 17th December 2014 at 12.30

 

Emily Hudson will present:

 

“Derivation of human hepatocytes from pancreatic progenitor cells and their use in a novel antioxidant screening platform”

(Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technology Group)

 

Primary hepatocytes are considered an ideal cell model for the study of hepatotoxicity, however they’re difficult to culture in vitro as they resist proliferation.  While there are a large variety of other models used to investigate liver toxicity there is yet to be a fully competent model that can be produced in required to meet demand.  A possible solution to this problem is the conversion of pancreatic cells to hepatocytes using steroid treatment.  This has already been shown to be viable in rodent cells with the creation of the B13/H cell line, derived from the B13 cell line.  When tested, if these B13/H cells respond to hepatotoxins in the same way as hepatocytes it could provide the rationale for expanding the research into a human cell line and ultimately generate a cell line for use in regulatory toxicology studies, disease modelling.

 

 

Key words: Reactive Oxygen Species, Hepatocytes, Nanosensors

_____________________________

Katherine Johnson will speak on:

 

Functional analysis of the osteoarthritis susceptibility locus marked by the polymorphism rs10492367”

(John Loughlin: Musculoskeletal Research)

 

The 2012 arcOGEN genome-wide association study reported that the rs10492367 G to T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marks a region on chromosome 12p that is associated with hip osteoarthritis (OA) in Europeans. To functionally dissect this region, we i) investigated differential transcription factor binding, ii) quantified expression of nearby genes and iii) analysed methylation levels across the region.

 

 

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, functional analysis, methylation

 

 

Chair:  Sophie Cassidy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 11 December 2014

Differentiation, Invasion, Fibroblasts, Myofibroblasts, Keratinocytes, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Retinoblastoma



Newcastle University Research Fellowship Candidate Seminar

 

Speaker: Dr Adam Pickard, Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queen's University Belfast

 

Venue: Lecture Theatre E, Dental School

Date and Time: 15th December 2014 11.00-12.00

 

Dr Pickard will present: '' Stromal control of epithelial differentiation and cancer invasion – a role for the retinoblastoma protein, pRb''

 

Summary:

The retinoblastoma proteins (Rb) is a key regulator of cell division and also epithelium differentiation. Animal studies have demonstrated that Rb can regulate the growth and differentiation of neighbouring cells, and this has been explored further using a three-dimensional organotypic culture system.  Depletion or inactivation of Rb in primary human fibroblasts, disrupts the differentiation of the neighbouring epithelium, through altered secretion of the keratinocyte growth factor (KGF).  Phosphorylation (inactivation) of Rb, has been identified in the stromal compartment of human tumours (Head and Neck cancers), specifically within the FSP1-positive population of fibroblasts. Rb inactivation promotes invasion of a cancerous epithelium with KGF driving expression of MMP1. Myofibroblasts, a sub-population of fibroblasts often associated with poor –disease outcome, also promote epithelium invasion,  therefore the role of Rb in myofibroblast differentiation was examined. Rb is degraded by the proteasome during TGFβ mediated differentiation, and Rb-depleted fibroblasts behave as myofibroblasts in collagen contraction assays. Both cell types produce higher levels of EGF which alone promotes epithelial invasion through inducing an epithelial to mesenchymal-transition.  Low doses of the EGFR targeted therapies efficiently inhibit the invasion process mediated by myofibroblasts, myofibroblasts are postulated as a marker of prognosis or therapeutic response.

 

Keywords:

Differentiation, Invasion, Fibroblasts, Myofibroblasts, Keratinocytes, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Retinoblastoma

 

Chair: Professor John Isaacs

 


Wednesday 10 December 2014

Dendritic cells, DNA methylation, and noncoding RNAs - Arthritis Research

The MRG Lab Meeting will be taking place on Friday 12th December 2014 at 9.00am in the Baddiley Clark Seminar Room.

 

Chair

 

Carole Proctor

 

Speakers

 

Faye Cooles (Clinical Research Fellow – PIs Cat Hilkens/John Isaacs) Title of Talk – "Plasmacytoid dendritic cells subsets in RA and SLE"

 

Ruddy Gomez (Research Associate - PI David Young) Title of Talk – "Analysis of DNA methylation helps to identify key TXFs  during MSC differentiation "

 

Matt Barter (Research Associate - PI David Young) Title of Talk – "Long noncoding RNAs in chondrocyte development and cartilage "

 

 

 

“A novel defect in the IFN alpha signalling pathway”

 

 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speakers:  Siti Mohamad & Eleana Pappa

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, William Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 10th December 2014 at 12.30

 

Siti Mohamad will present:

 

"A novel defect in the IFN alpha signalling pathway"

(Sophie Hambleton: Primary Immunodeficiency Group)

 

IFN alpha signalling is responsible for protecting the body against viruses. We found a novel defect in the IFN alpha signalling pathway in a patient with a severe disseminated MMR vaccine.

 

Key words: Viral susceptibility, IFN alpha signalling, novel defect

_____________________________

Eleana Pappa will discuss:

 

"Transcriptional and Phenotypic Characterization of Hepatic Stellate Cells"

(Derek Mann: Fibrosis Group)

 

Correlation of liver stiffness with fibrosis progression has been observed in many liver diseases. Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the main scaring forming cells in liver fibrosis. Activation of HSC from quiescent to myofibroblasts is the initial step for fibrosis development. In this project we evaluate the importance of substrate stiffness as driving force for HSC activation.

 

Key words: Liver fibrosis, Hydrogels, HSC 

 

Chair:  Kile Green

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Translational Genomics of Rare Diseases and Cancer

Research Day
Thursday 11 December 2014
Great North Museum 9:30 - 18:00

Including 10:00-10:30 Professor Mike Briggs – Common therapeutic targets in genetic skeletal diseases

Institute Christmas Coffee Morning


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jenna Ho

PA to:

Professor John Isaacs, Director of the Institute of Cellular Medicine

Professor Neil Sheerin, Professor of Nephrology

4th Floor William Leech Building

Medical School

Newcastle University

Framlington Place

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE2 4HH

 

Tel: 0191 208 6227

Fax: 0191 208 5066

 

Email: jenna.ho@newcastle.ac.uk

Web:    http://www.ncl.ac.uk/

 

Human tissue mononuclear phagocyte systems 12pm Lecture Theatre E, Dental School


 

Speaker: Dr Muzz Haniffa, Institute of Cellular Medicine

 

Venue: Lecture Theatre E, Dental School

Date and Time: Tuesday 9th December at 12-1300

 

 

Dr Haniffa will present:

''Human tissue mononuclear phagocyte systems revisited''

 

Summary

Dendritic cells (DCs), monocytes and macrophages are a heterogeneous population of mononuclear cells that are specialized in antigen processing and presentation to initiate and regulate immune responses. There has been a paradigm shift in our understanding of mononuclear phagocytes beyond the traditional view of DCs and macrophages as derivatives of monocytes.

While harnessing DCs and macrophages for therapeutic purposes has major implications for infection, vaccine science, transplantation, tolerance induction, inflammation and cancer immunotherapy, the use of monocyte-derived cells in therapy has so far been underwhelming.  This is due to our incomplete understanding of human mononuclear phagocyte biology.

 

In this seminar, I will present our current understanding of the human mononuclear phagocyte network, illustrate the origin and functional differences between DCs and macrophages, demonstrate the utility of comparative biology analysis to identify the homologous cell populations in human and mouse and how this approach has been instrumental in unraveling the complexity of mononuclear phagocyte heterogeneity in both species.     

 

Chair: Dr Alison Tyson -Capper

 

 


Wednesday 3 December 2014

Cartilage Homeostatis 8th December 2014 10.30am

 

Speaker: Dr Kazuhiro Yamamoto, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford

Newcastle University Research Fellowship Candidate

 

Venue: L.2.2 2nd Floor William Leech Building

Date and time: Monday 8th December 2014 10.30-11.30am

 

‘’Regulation of Cartilage Homeostatis by Endocytic Pathways in Health and Disease’’

 

Cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis (OA) is now well established to be the result of elevated proteinase activities, with the key enzymes being aggrecanases and collagenases. Their activities are not readily detected in normal cartilage, but they are greatly upregulated under pathological conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and OA, at the levels of transcription, epigenetic modification, posttranscriptional regulation by microRNAs, activation of pro-enzymes and inhibition by endogenous inhibitors. Recently, I have discovered an additional regulatory mechanism in that many of the key matrix-degrading metalloproteinases are rapidly endocytosed and degraded by chondrocytes in healthy cartilage, and this process is mediated by the endocytic receptor, low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) on the cell surface. However, under inflammatory conditions, or in OA cartilage, the LRP1 is proteolytically shed from the cell surface, which impairs the endocytic pathway. This introduces further complexity to extracellular matrix (ECM) catabolism in health and disease. I’m currently investigating how alterations in endocytosis affects cartilage homeostasis and what are the molecular events associated with it. A clearer understanding of this important mechanism will reveal novel biomarkers and generate new therapeutic approaches for OA, a disease that currently has no disease-modifying drugs. This unmet clinical need represents the major area of research to identify treatable therapeutic targets as our population ages.

In this seminar, I will talk about my current and future approaches to investigate how normal adult cartilage maintains homeostasis by regulating its ECM turnover and how this balance is lost upon ageing and in pathological conditions. I will also talk about a potential of my entirely novel approach to understand tissue catabolism in other tissue contexts and diseases.

 

Key words: Tissue catabolism; Osteoarthrits; Endocytosis; Extracellular trafficking; Metalloproteinases.

 

Friday 28 November 2014

Immunology and the Ageing B-Cell

The Immunology North East December meeting will take place on Thursday 11th December at 5pm (refreshments from 4.30pm) in the Research Beehive, Newcastle University room 2.21.   

 

Dr. Deborah Dunn-Walters, Division of Immunology, Infection and Inflammatory Disease; Chair of Mechanisms of Ageing section of Ageing Research At King's (ARK), King’s College London, will present  a talk entitled,

 

"The ageing B cell repertoire"

 

 

 

Research Interests

We have extensive experience in B cell repertoire analysis, and molecular events involving the immunoglobulin gene during B cell development. We combine traditional molecular biology techniques with novel mathematical analyses to devise new ways of investigating the humoral immune system.

Our particular interest is in research into ageing. Loss of immune system function with age results in the phenomenon termed “Immunosenescence.” This is associated with increased infectious disease morbidity and mortality, poor responses to vaccination, declines in established protective immunity, and increased incidence of autoimmune disorders. Until recently, most age-associated immune failures had been attributed to changes in T cell populations. However, there are many other changes in the immune system and, as data accumulate to show that B cells have a critical role in antigen presentation and regulation - in addition to their role as antibody producers - B cells and humoral immunity becomes highly significant.

More details on Deborah’s research can be found at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/research/divisions/diiid/departments/immunobiology/research/DunnWalters/index.aspx

 

Recent Publications:

Immunoglobulin gene repertoire diversification and selection in the stomach - from gastritis to gastric lymphomas.

Michaeli M, Tabibian-Keissar H, Schiby G, Shahaf G, Pickman Y, Hazanov L, Rosenblatt K, Dunn-Walters DK, Barshack I, Mehr R. Front Immunol. 2014 Jun 3;5:264. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00264. eCollection 2014.

Redemption of autoantibodies on anergic B cells by variable-region glycosylation and mutation away from self-reactivity.

Sabouri Z, Schofield P, Horikawa K, Spierings E, Kipling D, Randall KL, Langley D, Roome B, Vazquez-Lombardi R, Rouet R, Hermes J, Chan TD, Brink R, Dunn-Walters DK, Christ D, Goodnow CC. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Jun 24;111(25):E2567-75. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1406974111. Epub 2014 May 12.

Immunogenetics and transplantation.

Davenport MP, Dunn-Walters DK. Curr Opin Immunol. 2013 Oct;25(5):606-7. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2013.09.001. Epub 2013 Sep 26. No abstract available.

Human lymphocyte repertoires in ageing.

Boyd SD, Liu Y, Wang C, Martin V, Dunn-Walters DK. Curr Opin Immunol. 2013 Aug;25(4):511-5. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2013.07.007. Epub 2013 Aug 28. Review.

BCR CDR3 length distributions differ between blood and spleen and between old and young patients, and TCR distributions can be used to detect myelodysplastic syndrome.

Pickman Y, Dunn-Walters D, Mehr R. Phys Biol. 2013 Oct;10(5):056001. doi: 10.1088/1478-3975/10/5/056001. Epub 2013 Aug 22.

Yersinia enterocolitica provides the link between thyroid-stimulating antibodies and their germline counterparts in Graves' disease.

Hargreaves CE, Grasso M, Hampe CS, Stenkova A, Atkinson S, Joshua GW, Wren BW, Buckle AM, Dunn-Walters D, Banga JP. J Immunol. 2013 Jun 1;190(11):5373-81. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1203412. Epub 2013 Apr 29.

Granulocyte colony stimulating factor exacerbates antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody vasculitis.

Freeley SJ, Coughlan AM, Popat RJ, Dunn-Walters DK, Robson MG. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013 Jun;72(6):1053-8. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-202160. Epub 2012 Oct 19.

A novel chronic lymphocytic leukemia subset expressing mutated IGHV3-7-encoded rheumatoid factor B-cell receptors that are functionally proficient.

Hoogeboom R, Wormhoudt TA, Schipperus MR, Langerak AW, Dunn-Walters DK, Guikema JE, Bende RJ, van Noesel CJ. Leukemia. 2013 Mar;27(3):738-40. doi: 10.1038/leu.2012.238. Epub 2012 Aug 20. No abstract available.

Age-Related Changes in Human Peripheral Blood IGH Repertoire Following Vaccination.

Wu YC, Kipling D, Dunn-Walters DK. Front Immunol. 2012 Jul 9;3:193. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00193. eCollection 2012.

B cell immunosenescence: different features of naive and memory B cells in elderly.

Buffa S, Bulati M, Pellicanò M, Dunn-Walters DK, Wu YC, Candore G, Vitello S, Caruso C, Colonna-Romano G. Biogerontology. 2011 Oct;12(5):473-83. doi: 10.1007/s10522-011-9353-4. Epub 2011 Aug 31.

Vaccination-induced changes in human B-cell repertoire and pneumococcal IgM and IgA antibody at different ages.

Ademokun A, Wu YC, Martin V, Mitra R, Sack U, Baxendale H, Kipling D, Dunn-Walters DK. Aging Cell. 2011 Dec;10(6):922-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2011.00732.x. Epub 2011 Aug 10.

The relationship between CD27 negative and positive B cell populations in human peripheral blood.

Wu YC, Kipling D, Dunn-Walters DK. Front Immunol. 2011 Dec 26;2:81. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2011.00081. eCollection 2011.

B cells and immunosenescence: a focus on IgG+IgD-CD27- (DN) B cells in aged humans.

Bulati M, Buffa S, Candore G, Caruso C, Dunn-Walters DK, Pellicanò M, Wu YC, Colonna Romano G. Ageing Res Rev. 2011 Apr;10(2):274-84. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2010.12.002. Epub 2010 Dec 23. Review.

B cell repertoire and ageing.

Dunn-Walters DK, Ademokun AA. Curr Opin Immunol. 2010 Aug;22(4):514-20. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2010.04.009. Epub 2010 May 25. Review.

 

 

Tuesday 25 November 2014

Biomarkers in inflammatory disease. Speaker Dr Mary Keir Monday 1st December.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaker: Dr Mary Keir PhD, Genetech Inc, South San Francisco

 

Venue: L2.6, 2ND Floor, William Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time: Monday 1st December 2014 at 1.00pm

 

Dr Mary Keir will present

 

“Predictive biomarkers for response to etrolizumab therapy in IBD”

 

Biog: Mary Keir received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, where her thesis work focused on innate responses to HIV infection in the human thymus. Following completion of her Ph.D, she undertook postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, where she studied the role of PD-1:PD-L1 interactions in T cell tolerance and autoimmunity. Mary next moved to Genentech to join the Immunology Diagnostic Discovery group and focus on biomarker identification and utility in clinical trials. At Genentech, she has led biomarker efforts in both systemic lupus erythematosus and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Her current research focus is on predictive biomarkers of inflammatory subgroups in IBD as well as prognostic biomarkers of disease.

 

 

 

Jenna Ho

PA to:

Professor John Isaacs, Director of the Institute of Cellular Medicine

Professor Neil Sheerin, Professor of Nephrology

4th Floor William Leech Building

Medical School

Newcastle University

Framlington Place

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE2 4HH

 

Tel: 0191 208 6227

Fax: 0191 208 5066

 

Email: jenna.ho@newcastle.ac.uk

Web:    http://www.ncl.ac.uk/

 

Don't Miss: Emma Rogers on 'A functional genetic study of the osteoarthritis-associated SNP rs4836732'

 

 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speakers:  Eleana Pappa, Emma Rogers & Keith Wu

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, William Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 26th November 2014 at 12.30

 

Eleana Pappa will present:

“Transcriptional and Phenotypic Characterization of Hepatic Stellate Cells”

(Derek Mann: Fibrosis Group)

 

Correlation of liver stiffness with fibrosis progression has been observed in many liver diseases. Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the main scaring forming cells in liver fibrosis. Activation of HSC from quiescent to myofibroblasts is the initial step for fibrosis development. In this project we evaluate the importance of substrate stiffness as driving force for HSC activation.

 

Key words: Liver fibrosis, Hydrogels, HSC 

_____________________________

Emma Rogers will discuss:

'A functional genetic study of the osteoarthritis-associated SNP rs4836732'”

(John Loughlin: Osteoarthritis Research Group)

 

A recent genome wide association scan identified the region defined by the intronic SNP rs4836732 to be associated with female hip osteoarthritis. This project intends to identify the functional SNP within this region and investigate how the SNP is mediating increased osteoarthritis susceptibility.

 

Key words: Osteoarthritis, genetics, SNP

_____________________________

Keith Wu will speak on:

The Role of Epigenetics, including BET bromodomains, in the Control of Inflammatory Skin Disease”

(Nick Reynolds: Dermatology Group)

 

Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease, often with systemic involvement, affecting up to 3% of the adult population.  Despite its prevalence there is an unmet need for new therapies and the pathophysiology is not fully understood.  Here we discuss the role of BET bromodomains in the control of inflammatory cytokines and their potential as a novel therapeutic target.

 

Key words: epigenetics, inflammation, therapeutics

 

Chair:  Irene del Molino del Barrio

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 17 November 2014

Rheumatoid Arthritis Seminar: John Isaacs Tuesday 25 November at 1 pm

 

 

 

 

PI Seminar Series

 

Speaker: Professor John Isaacs, Director of the Institute of Cellular Medicine and Professor of Clinical Rheumatology

 

Venue: Lecture Theatre D, Dental School

Date and Time: Tuesday 25th November 2014 at 13.00

 

Professor John Isaacs will present:

‘’Breaking through the therapeutic ceiling: Novel strategies and biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis management’’

 

Brief summary:

My group’s work is focussed on the identification of novel biomarkers and testing of novel therapeutic strategies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In this seminar I will describe our work in the early arthritis clinic and in the refractory arthritis clinic, and highlight how this work addresses some of the unmet needs that our patients face.

 

Key themes:

STAT-3 signalling as a biomarker in early arthritis

The AuToDeCRA study

The RA-MAP project

CDK inhibition for rheumatoid arthritis

 

Chair: Professor Steve Yeaman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Mitochondria, immunity, and monocytic cells in immune inflammatory responses.




 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speaker:  John Widdrington

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, William Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 12th November 2014 at 12.30

 

_____________________________

John Widdrington will discuss:

 

"The effect of mtDNA depletion on immune functions in THP-1 cells"

 

Adverse outcomes in sepsis have been associated with both impaired immunity and depletion of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in monocytes. This study assesses the link between these findings by determining the effects of depleting mtDNA copy number on the ability of THP-1 cells to produce immune responses to inflammatory stimuli.

 

Keywords: mitochondria, immunity, monocytic cells

 

Chair: Sadaf Atarod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 4 November 2014

MRG LAB MEETING 7.11.14 Osteoarthritis and Lymphocyte Apoptosis

Friday 7th November 2014 at 9.00am in DENTAL LECTURE THEATRE E.

 

Chair

 

Angie Habgood (PhD Student – PI Drew Rowan)

 

Speakers

 

David Wilkinson (Research Associate - PI Drew Rowan) Title of Talk – "Inhibition of Matriptase: Implications for Osteoarthritis"

 

Siti Mohamad (PhD Student – PI Sophie Hambleton) Title of Talk – "Disease mechanism in a novel disorder of lymphocyte apoptosis"

 

Fiona Gee (Research Associate – PI John Loughlin) Title of Talk – "Investigating the role of NCOA3 and SULF2 in osteoarthritis susceptibility"

 

 

 

Arthritis, HER2 and Atrial Fibrillation: Tomorrow : 12:30

 

 

 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speakers:  Nishanthi Thalayasingam, Anna-Lena Dittrich

& Sarah Anne Kane

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, William Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 5th November 2014 at 12.30

 

Nishanthi Thalayasingam will present:

 

"A microarray analysis of peripheral blood B cells from early arthritis patients"

 

In Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) chronic inflammation leads to joint damage and so it is vital treatment is commenced promptly to prevent this. There is increasing interest in the role of B cells in the pathogenesis of RA following the effectiveness of selective B cell depletion. The purpose of this project is to identify potential diagnostic biomarkers by comparing the gene expression profiles of B cells from newly diagnosed RA patients to that of patients diagnosed with other types of arthritis.

Key words: Rheumatoid Arthritis, microarray, B cells

_____________________________

Anna-Lena Dittrich will discuss:

 

"HER2: Regulation of alternative splicing and novel splice variants"

 

With more than 11000 deaths annually in the UK from breast cancer much effort has been made to provide optimal treatment. Our focus is on HER2, a proto-oncogene in breast cancer. Different splice variants of HER2 can have positive or negative effects on disease progression and therapy efficiency. Our aim is to identify additional splice variant and to understand the regulatory mechanisms underlying the alternative splicing.

Key words: Alternative splicing, ErbB2, Breast Cancer​

_____________________________

Sarah Anne Kane will speak on:

 

"The Detection of Atrial Fibrillation During 24-hour Blood Pressure Measurement"

 

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is a cardiac arrhythmia that affects around 2% of the population. Early detection allows patients to begin potentially life-saving therapies so a simple, effective method for screening is required. One method is the use of modified blood pressure monitors that can pick up AF through incorporated pulse detection algorithms. In this project we aim to take this one step further and determine if it is feasible to screen for AF during 24 hour blood pressure measurements.

Keywords: Blood Pressure, Atrial Fibrillation, Clinical Trial

 

Chair:  Sophie Cassidy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 28 October 2014

From Oestrogen Receptors to Ageing Brains


 

 

Institute Research Student Seminars

Speakers:  Stephanie Meyer & Elizabeth Dutton

 

Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, William Leech Building, Medical School

Date and time:  Wednesday 29th October 2014 at 12.30

 

Stephanie Meyer will present:

 

"Effect of oestrogenic chemicals on the liver"

 

The oestrogen receptors (ERs) are a major target for endocrine disruptor chemicals which can affect health and reproduction by disturbing the hormone system in animals and humans. The commonly used food colour tartrazine has previously been shown to activate the human ERα in vitro and caused a cholestatic liver injury when injected into mice intraperitoneally. Therefore tartrazine was examined for its ability to activate the mouse oestrogen receptors and its potential to cause adverse effects when administered orally in an experimental mouse model was investigated.

 

 

Key words:  Oestrogen receptors, xenoestrogens, cholestatic liver disease

 

_____________________________

Elizabeth Dutton will discuss:

 

"Use-it-or-lose-it" - Older adults' perceptions of brain health and its maintenance"

 

Physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. However, health messages have limited impact on physical activity levels amongst older adults. A design-research workshop explored perceptions of brain health with eight older adults, and what actions, if any, people undertake to maintain their brain health. The research forms part of a PhD research project to design products and services to engage people in physical activity to improve brain health.

 

 

Key words: Physical activity, brain health, dementia

 

 

 

Chair:  Rebecca Brennan