CDT in Advanced Therapeutics and Nanomedicines 2019 Autumn Colloquium

Day 1 - 8 October

We started the new academic year with hosting, at the University of Nottingham, the Autumn Colloquium for the CDT in Advanced Therapeutics and Nanomedicines. The day featured student presentations and posters, and was attended by academics, industry scientists and members of the CDT Advisory Board. The plenary lecture “An Industrial Perspective of Nanomedicines” was given by Dr Mariarosa Mazza from AstraZeneca. We also welcomed the first student cohort of the CDT in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies. The CDT Training Director, Dr Maria Marlow, commented on “how energising it was to see such a high standard of presentations”.

Attendees of the Autumn Colloquium - 8 October 2019

Speakers from left to right: Mary Strimaite, Jugal Suthar, Ines, Colic, Catherine Vasey, Isobel Holden, Rachael Xerry, Oran Maguire (session chair), Valentina Hashad (session chair), Liisa Niitsoo, Gordon Bruce, Anna Kotowska, Lorenzo Schiazza, Kaouthar Bouzinab, Georgios Papakostas, Dr Mariarosa Mazza, Sarah Trenfield and Clarissa Harman.

All attendees voted for the best talks and best poster, which were awarded jointly to Catherine Vasey and Sarah Trenfield (best final year talks), Clarissa Harman (best short presentation) and Ines Colic (best poster). The day concluded with a networking dinner.

The CDT would like to thank all speakers, session chairs and attendees for this interactive and interesting day.

Day 2 - 9 October

Day 2 of the Autumn Colloquium was a dedicated training day for the CDT in Advanced Therapeutics and Nanomedicines students. Drs Carmen McLeod, Richard Helliwell and Eleanor Hadley Kershaw led a workshop on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). Responsible Research and Innovation is a process that seeks to promote creativity and opportunities for research and innovation that are socially desirable and undertaken in the public interest. The workshop introduced RRI and some of the key frameworks for understanding and implementing RRI. It also included several activities to explore what RRI might mean in practice.

  Discussion: Which activities are considered RRI?

Career Insights: Dr Richard Weaver, CEO and founder of XenoGesis Ltd, talked about his 22-year career in pharmaceutical research leading him to found XenoGesis Ltd (a company now with 160 clients world-wide). Richard also discussed skills (teamwork, science focus and flexibility) he considers important when recruiting for his company. Dr Nalayini Thambar, Director of Careers and Employability at the University of Nottingham, spoke about her career path and highlighted many points to consider for making decisions on careers including strengths, preferences and alternative career paths.

The CDT would like to thank Carmen, Richard, Eleanor, Richard and Nalayini for this insightful day.

  
From the left: Dr Carmen MacLeod, Dr Eleanor              From the left: Dr Nalayini Thambar, Dr Richard  
Hadley Kershaw and Dr Richard Helliwell.                         Weaver and Dr Maria Marlow (CDT Training Director)