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Friday, 20 December 2013
Congratulations
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Prof Ian Pavord Christmas Lecture, Freeman Hospital, 18th December 2013
Ian is an international authority on eosinophilic inflammation, especially as it applies to asthma. While some of the content will be clinical, there will undoubtedly be data of significant relevance to anyone interested in inflammation.
The talk is at the lecture theatre in the Institute of Transplantation at Freeman Hospital, and will be preceded at 8.45 by a short talk from Carlos Echevarria, a local clinical research fellow and PhD student.
INE Talk, Functional Genomics and PTP, Andy Cope, KCL
Andy Cope (Arthritis Research UK Chair of Rheumatology at King's College London)
INE speaker on the 8th of January,
Friday, 13 December 2013
Thursday, 12 December 2013
More Publications from MRG this Month
Predictors of access to care in juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus: evidence from the UK JSLE Cohort Study
Eve M. D. Smith; Helen E. Foster; William K. Gray; David Taylor-Robinson; Michael W. Beresford;
Rheumatology 2013; doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/ket402
pGALS – paediatric Gait Arms Legs and Spine: a simple examination of the musculoskeletal system
Foster, H.E. and Jandial, S.
Pediatric Rheumatology 2013, 11:44
http://www.ped-rheum.com/content/11/1/44
Improving the peer review process in orthopaedic journals
Sprowson, A.P., Rankin, K.S., McNamara, I., Costa, M.L. and Rangan, A.
Bone Joint Res 2013; 2:245-247
No evidence of an association between mitochondrial DNA variants and osteoarthritis in 7393 cases and 5122 controls.
Hudson, G., Panoutsopoulou, K., Wilson, I., Southam, L., Rayner, N.W., Arden, N., Birrell, F., Carluke, I., Carr, A., Chapman, K., Deloukas, P., Doherty, M., McCaskie, A., Ollier, W.E.R., Ralston, S.H., Reed, M.R., Spector, T.D., Valdes, A.M., Wallis, G.A., Wilkinson, J.M., Zeggini, E., Samuels, D.C., Loughlin, J., Chinnery, P.F., arcOGEN Consortium
Ann Rheum Dis,2013; 72:136-139/ doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2012-201932
A computer simulation approach for assessing therapeutic intervention points to prevent cytokine-induced cartilage breakdown.
CJ Proctor, C Macdonald, JM Milner, AD Rowan, TE Cawston (doi 10.1002/art.38297) Arthritis & Rheumatism
Another Paper Accepted
Lendrem, D. W., & Lendrem, B. C. (2013).
The Development Speed Paradox: can increasing development speed reduce R&D productivity? Drug Discov Today. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2013.09.002
Congratulations: Madhushika Ratnayake
And congratulations to Madhushika “Madhu” Ratnayake on her PhD viva!
Welcome: New Starters This Month!
Katie Crossland has started as a 1yr JGWP postdoc post with Desa & Cat
David Wilkinson has started as a 1yr JGWP postdoc post with Drew
Andrew Skelton has been appointed as the MRG Bioinformatician with David
Prof John Isaacs gives the Sir Michael Perrin Lecture at the RCP, London, 2013
On 18th November Professor John Isaacs was invited to give the Sir Michael Perrin Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians (London). The title of his talk was: Biosimilars – what are they and are they safe?
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Newcastle-Manchester Research Day
Newcastle-Manchester Research Day, 12th December 2013
Jury’s Inn Newcastle, St James Gate, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4AD
Meeting Program
11:15 arrival of the Manchester group
12:00-13:00 lunch
SESSION 1
13:00-13:15 Mike Briggs (Newcastle) – Welcome
13:15-13:55 Louise Kung (Manchester) – ER stress and OA
13:55-14:35 Mitra Forouhan (Manchester) – Role of ATF6 in pathobiology of MCDS
14:35-15:15 Lorna Mullan (Manchester) – Therapy avenues in MCDS
15:15-15:55 Peter Bell (Newcastle) –V156D matrilin-1 mouse model
15:55-16:15 coffee break
SESSION 2
16:15-16:55 Sarah Edwards (Manchester) – Type VI collagen and ER stress
16:55-17:35 Kasia Pirog (Newcastle) – Xbp1 signalling in MED
17:35-18:00 Mike Briggs (Newcastle) – The role of ATF4 and ATF6 signalling in MED/future avenues
18:00-18:15 Mike Briggs/Ray Boot-Handford (Manchester) – Summary and closing remarks
19:00-20:00 drinks at Town Wall
20:00 dinner at The Forth Hotel, NE1 5DW
Friday, 6 December 2013
INE Seminar: Dendritic Cells in Type 2 Inflammation
'Dendritic cells: central players in orchestration of Type 2 inflammation'.
Andrew MacDonald, University of Manchester
Thursday 12 December.
Research Beehive, INE talk at 5 pm
Thursday, 5 December 2013
ICM Research Seminar, Friday 6 December 2013, 12noon
Institute Guest Seminar
Guest Speaker: Dr John Connolly
[Director, A-Star Programme in Translational Research on Infectious Disease]
[Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Proteos, Singapore]
Venue: Lecture theatre E, ground floor, Dental School
Date and time: Friday 6 December 2013 at 12noon
Dr Connolly will discuss:
“Systems Based Approach to Monitoring Vaccine Responses.”
Following vaccination, cellular communication, trafficking and polarization contribute to the development of the complex adaptive immune phenomenon we call protection. As with any complex behaviour, early perturbations in the innate immune response to vaccination lead to substantial differences in the development of adaptive immune memory. The ability to simultaneously monitor changes in multiple functional parameters holds both greater discriminatory and instructive power when compared to monitoring a single event. We have established an integrated, systems-based approach for high throughput monitoring of cellular responses (B-cell and T-cell) before and after vaccination. Preclinical analysis of a model pandemic influenza vaccine, demonstrates that the magnitude, quality and breadth of cellular responses are determined, in large part, by the nature of TLR and NLR signalling during vaccination. In addition to highlighting the important role of innate immune recognition in vaccination, these studies underscore the power of this systems based approach in rational vaccine design.
Bio:
Dr. Connolly is a Senior Principal Investigator and Director for Translational Immunology at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (IMCB). Additionally, Dr. Connolly serves as Program Director for the A*Star Program in Translational Research in Infectious Disease, a multi-disciplinary centre focused on vaccine development. An Adjunct Associate Professor of Immunology at Baylor University, he serves on the Board of Governors for the Institute of Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. Connolly received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Dartmouth Medical School and studied human dendritic cell biology under Dr. Michael Fanger. During this time he was involved in the development of immunotherapeutic preclinical models and clinical trials for Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). He moved to the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, a fully translational research institute focused on rationally designed vaccines against cancer and infectious disease. Dr. Connolly served as the Director of Research Initiatives for the Baylor Research Institute, leading a large integrated translational research resource and multi-institutional programs that involved a number of international sites. During his tenure at Baylor, Dr. Connolly was the central core facility director of the NIAID Centres for Translational Research on Human Immunology and Biodefense, an NIH funded consortium of basic, translational research and clinical trials focused on vaccine design. Dr. Connolly is the past President of the Board of Directors of The American Cancer Society in N. Texas
Key words: translational immunology, systems immunology, vaccine development
Chair: Professor John Isaacs
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
ICM Research Seminar, Wednesday 4 December 2013, 1.00pm
Institute Research Student Seminars
Speakers: PhD students Paul Milne (Haematology), Christopher Fox (Transplantation) and Emma Woodward (Dermatology)
Venue: Seminar room L2.5, 2nd floor, Leech Building, Medical School
Date and time: Wednesday 4 December 2013 at 1.00pm
Paul Milne will present:
"Total Mononuclear Cell Profiling in Haematological Malignancies."
The development of multi-parameter flow cytometry protocols to completely define the mononuclear cellular components of haematological malignancies and immunodeficiencies.
Key words: Leukaemia, Mononuclear Cells, Flow Cytometry
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Christopher Fox will talk about:
"Screening of Cathepsin B and D expression in an apoptotic acute model of kidney IRI."
The project aims to investigate if the cathepsin B or D play a role in apoptosis during renal ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI). Following IRI the kidney undergoes 4 phases of regeneration, with apoptosis and necrosis as first stage. In this study we screened the expression of cathepsins along different ischemic times in order to assess if cathepsins expression correlates with the rate of apoptosis in a mouse model of IRI.
Key words: Kidney, Cathepsin, Apoptosis, Ischemia reperfusion injury
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Emma Woodward will discuss:
"Investigating the pathogenesis of chloracne."
To understand the role of cathepsins and autophagy in regulating epidermal homeostasis
and toxicity following AhR activation by dioxin in skin.
Key words: Autophagy, Cathepsin D, Aryl hydrocarbon receptor
Chair: Sadaf Atarod, PhD student (Haematology)
Monday, 2 December 2013
RACE: Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathogenesis Centre of Excellence
Professors Iain MacInnes, John Isaacs and Chris Buckley led the three teams from Glasgow, Newcastle and Birmingham in a discussion of the science and processes by which researchers would leverage the full benefits of the Centre.
In a lively meeting that bodes well for the future of the Centre the three teams identified key collaborations and PhD projects essential to the success of the Centre.
The next meeting is likely to be hosted by the team in Birmingham early in 2014..