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NHLI Newsletter 09-2018
Imperial College London
National Heart & Lung Institute
 

NEWSLETTER                      SEPTEMBER  2018
Researchers partner with industry to develop ground-breaking gene therapy for CF
Antibodies may cut heart attack risk

Letter from the Head of the Institute

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome back to the new term, I hope you have managed to get some down-time during the good weather.   I am pleased to say that there have been many successes in the promotion round and the names of our new Readers and Professors are below.  Please join me in congratulating them on their appointment through this rigorous process.

With the new term comes new opportunities: the British Heart Foundation have set out their Big Beat Challenge – a single award of £30 million for a transformative idea.   They want to see “radical ideas from ambitious, diverse teams prepared to take risks”.  You can register your interest and sign up for their information event on the 23rd October at the Big Beat Challenge website, and we have a networking event to discuss ideas on the 1st November at ICTEM, Hammersmith, contact j.subba@imperial.ac.uk if you would like to join. Start thinking now!

I have very much enjoyed writing this Introduction, but will now be handing over to our new Head of Institute, Professor Edwin Chilvers, who we welcome to the NHLI on 1st October.   A forthcoming Newsletter will feature a full article about him and an interview to hear his vision for our future. I wish him every success in this new role.  


Warm regards,


Professor Sian Harding

Head of Institute
NEWS
EVENTS
JUMP TO ANY OF THESE SECTIONS:
Equality & Diversity @NHLI
Details of all Regular Meetings

Focus on...Academic Promotions

Congratulations to all our academics who were recognised with promotions this year.

Piers Daubeney, Professor of Practice (Paediatric Cardiology)
Sujal Desai, Professor of Practice (Thoracic Imaging)
Gavin Donaldson, Professor of Respiratory Studies
Eric Lim, Professor of Thoracic Surgery
Michael Loebinger, Professor of Practice (Respiratory Medicine)
Andrew Menzies-Gow, Professor of Practice (Respiratory Medicine)
Susanna Price, Professor of Practice (Cardiology & Intensive Care)
Jennifer Quint, Reader in Respiratory Epidemiology
Tristan Rodriguez, Reader in Cell and Developmental Biology
Darryl Shore, Professor of Practice (Congenital Cardiac Surgery)
James Ware, Reader in Genomic Medicine
Zachary Whinnett, Reader in Cardiac Electrophysiology
Robert Wilson, Professor of Practice (Respiratory Medicine)


You can read more on the promotions online:
NOTICES

NHLI PGR INDUCTION DAY ON 3 OCTOBER - ALL WELCOME!

The NHLI Postgraduate Research induction for new PGR students is scheduled for Wednesday 3 October 2018 in the Paul Wood Lecture Theatre, Guy Scadding Building.

The induction is from 13:30 – 17:00 with an evening reception in the Refectory from 17:00 – 18:00.

All are invited to welcome the new MD (Res) and PhD students.

CANCER COUNSELLING - SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES TOUCHED BY CANCER

Occupational Health have added another service to the Confidential Care package and now offers support for families touched by cancer. Further information is available via the Confidential Care webpages. Confidential Care services are available to members of staff and their families.

CALLING ALL POSTGRADS! ETHICS COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE WANTED
 

We would like to recruit a PG Student Representative for the NEW Science, Engineering and Technology Ethics Committee (SETEC). SETEC will focus on non-health related projects and will run alongside the ICREC which previously had oversight for all health and non-health studies.
 
A key aim of the Committee is to enable Imperial to maintain the highest ethical standards in all research relating to human subjects. 

SETEC will convene 6 times during each academic year, on a bi-monthly basis. The meetings will take place on the second Tuesday of each month at our South Kensington Campus. 

If you are interested in joining the Committee, please send a short letter outlining relevant experience and suitability. Please include an up to date copy of your CV.
 
Previous experience of ethical review is desirable.

Applications must be sent to Nooreen Shaikh at the Joint Research Compliance Office.

Information on ICREC can be found on our webpages.

Closing Date: 28 October 2018
 
Joint Research Compliance Office (JRCO),
Imperial College Research Ethics Committee (ICREC) and
Science, Engineering and Technology Ethics Committee (SETEC) 

HELP US BENCHMARK OUR PROGRESS ON LGBT+ INCLUSIVITY

The Stonewall survey is an independent way for staff to give their honest feedback on how they feel the College is doing in terms of LGBT equality and inclusion.

The survey is anonymous, open to all staff at Imperial and will take only 5 minutes to complete.

The following details are needed to complete the survey:

Institution Name: Imperial College London
Institution code: 1299  

Fill in the survey online.

NHLI ENGAGE AWARD 2017 - NOMINATIONS OPEN
 

We have been a little delayed this year in organising the 2017 NHLI Engage Award but we are pleased to announce that nominations are now open. Have a think back to the public engagement activities you and your colleagues took part in last year and submit a nomination for yourself or someone else or (newly eligible this year) a group engagement project by your research team.
 
2017 is the fourth year of The NHLI Engage Award. You can nominate yourself, a colleague or a research team, for the NHLI Engage Award 2017 by simply writing a short statement answering the following questions:
  • What public engagement activities did the nominee participated in in 2017?
  • Why does the nominee deserved to be recognised for their public engagement contribution?

The NHLI Engage Award is open to master’s and PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows and new lecturers (within three years of appointment). We will also consider nominations of support staff who directly contribute to public engagement with research. 

Nominations are open from now until 17 October.

Complete this online form to submit a nomination.
 
Best wishes,

Ellen Dowell & Sara Rankin

SOCIETAL ENGAGEMENT SEED FUND 2018/2019
 

Applications are now open for the third round of the Societal Engagement Seed Fund, which supports staff and students to engage the wider public with Imperial’s research and education. Proposals could include a discrete project or a pilot activity to be further developed, and can request funding in the range of £300-£2000. We particularly encourage applications that aim to engage the public with Imperial’s research through creative two-way approaches, and have increased the funding available this year for these types of idea. Interested applicants looking for guidance on their proposals are invited to register for the advice clinic on Thursday 4 October.
 
Applications close on Thursday 1 November. 

Find out more and apply.
NHLI NEWS 
Can we trust the tobacco industry?
Using big data to improve patient care in lung disease

Research news:

Wider media:

Of interest:

Respiratory Gene Therapy Update
 

Over the last few months, the UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium (GTC), which includes the NHLI (Eric Alton, Jane Davies, Uta Griesenbach and Tracy Harman), and the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, have made progress in a number of areas.
 
The GTC has built on experience gained with a non-viral approach to transferring genes into the airways, successfully used in a major Phase 2B cystic fibrosis trial which met its primary outcome, to develop a new viral vector-based product. The latter recently received £2.75M funding from the Health Innovation Challenge Fund (a partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Department of Health and Social Care) for translation into the clinic.


Read the full update on the Section webpages.
TWITTER UPDATE 

Tweets from the @ImperialNHLI account have totalled over 57,000 impressions in the last 28 days. The top tweet for September was during Postdoc Appreciation week #NPAW2018 looking back at Dr Andre Amaral's report from his NHLI travel award with 1,551 impressions. 
For further news visit the Reporter or Imperial News
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Commemoration Day

Love a bit of ceremony? Help make Commemoration Day extra special by volunteering your time this October. Learn new skills, meet new people and be part of a fantastic team at one of Imperial’s most prestigious events.

Flexible
Volunteer shifts available ranging from two hours to the whole day.

Rewarding
Enhance your CV and boost your confidence.

Open to everyone
Staff and students are welcome to volunteer at Commemoration Day
As a thank you, all volunteers are entitled to a free ticket to one of the graduation receptions. Volunteers who give more than four hours of their time will also receive a £5 lunch voucher for use on campus.

Learn more and register.
 

Engagement Academy

Calling all Imperial staff - applications are open for our next Engagement Academy! Develop your engagement practice, boost your confidence and build your leadership skills. Find out more and apply.
EVENTS 

The NHS 70th anniversary

Join the History of Medicine Society as we demonstrate the value of using history as an analytical resource to rethink current health challenges, and produce a new evidence-base that can help shape policy and practice.

Evening of Wednesday 3 October 2018
@ Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE

> Student subsidised places available.

Further details and registration.
The microbiome: human medicine and agriculture in a microbial world

This one-day conference held by the Royal Society will bring together experts from both agricultural and human microbiome sectors to discuss the barriers to technology translation and common principles across both sectors.

09:00 - 19:00 on Friday 5 October 2018
@ The Royal Society, London, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG

Further details and registration.

Staying in rhythm: The trials and fibrillations of a heartbeat

Professor Prapa Kanagaratnam will describe new diagnostic approaches to types of heart rhythm problems.

18:00 - 19:00 on Friday 5 October 2018
@ Lecture theatre G34, Sir Alexander Fleming Building - South Kensington Campus

Further details and registration.
Plenary Lecture by Professor Mark Caulfield

We are pleased to invite all students within the Faculty of Medicine to attend the plenary lecture by Professor Mark Caulfield (Genomics England/QMUL).

16:00-17:30 Monday 8 October 2018 
@ Paul Wood Lecture Theatre, Guy Scadding Building - Royal Brompton Campus

Further details and registration.
Biosciences for All - Paving Pathways for Diversity

Professor Sara Rankin will be one of the speakers at this Royal Society of Biology event aimed at discussing ways to best support an inclusive and accessible environment, across the biosciences.

18:00 - 21:00 on Monday 8 October 2018
@ Royal Society of Biology, Charles Darwin House, 12 Roger Street, London WC1N 2JU

Further details.
The importance of diversity in STEM

Chi Onwurah MP, Shadow Minister for Industrial Strategy, Science and Innovation will talk about the opportunities and challenges of diversity.

14:00 - 15:00 on Thursday 11 October 2018
@ Lecture Theatre G16, Sir Alexander Fleming Building - South Kensington Campus

Further details and registration.
Upcoming Inflammation, Repair and Development external lecture series

Through the monthly IRD seminar series leading experts in the fields of inflammation, repair and development from around the UK and beyond present their work to the Department. 

Monday 8 October 2018 - Andrew Smith
 
Monday 21 January 2019 - Lena Svensson

Monday 4 February 2019 -  Professor Louise Wain
Translating your research to the next investment
  
You are invited to attend a workshop at the BHF to learn from industry and drug development experts about “Translating your research to the next investment”.
 
The BHF Translational Award supports the development of innovative new CV treatments and technologies so that they are attractive to follow-on funding.
 
The event will take place on 19 October from 10.30am – 5.30pm at BHF Head Office, London. 

The workshop will include a number of talks and panel discussions from commercial experts and academics who have successfully translated their research. 
 
Please note that spaces are limited so please email researchtranslation@bhf.org.uk to confirm your place.
For all upcoming NHLI events check the website

Upcoming Imperial events
 
AWARDS 

Gesa Albers has been shortlisted as one of the ten finalists for this year's Max Perutz Science Writing Award.  Gesa was nominated for a piece entitled “Immune cell diet, cure for asthma?” and she is a PhD student supervised by Dr Adam Byrne and Dr Paul Lavender (KCL). The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony in October.

Professor Sian Harding was awarded the International Society of Heart Research European Section Medal of Merit, for sustained and outstanding contribution to cardiovascular science, at the Annual meeting in Amsterdam.
Well done to all our nominees for the BSc Project Prize. Sachin Ananth was nominated from the BSc Respiratory programme, with Beth Taylor and Louis Fisher nominated for the best overall performance from the BSc Cardiovascular programme. 
 
  • Sachin was awarded joint second with another student, winning the Hepburn Memorial Prize.  
  • Louis came third and was awarded the Waller Prize.
  • Beth came first and was awarded the Charles Power Prize.

Dr Peter Saunders has been awarded a prize in the Trainee category of the Royal College of Physicians/NIHR CRN awards scheme, in recognition of his outstanding research leadership in the NHS. Peter is a PhD student undertaking a study into cough in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis under the supervision of Professor Toby Maher, Professor Maria Belvisi, Professor Jacky Smith (University of Manchester) and Dr Philip Molyneaux. The award is for his role in delivering clinical research within an NHS setting.

Dr Darshan Brahmbhatt won the prize for best presentation in the "Heart Failure and Digital health" session at the European Society of Cardiology congress. Darshan presented the results from the HeartLogic(TM) multiparametric monitoring algorithm, which uses data from implanted cardiac devices to determine whether patients' heart failure state is deteriorating. His talk proposed that using HeartLogic(TM) could identify those at risk of hospitalisation and treat them promptly with a view towards preventing further deterioration and stopping hospitalisation. (Photo credit: Boston Scientific Europe).

Yousif Ahmad has been selected as a finalist for the American Heart Association Samuel A. Levine Young Clinical Investigator Award. He is one of five finalists who will be presenting at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in November. Yousif's PhD is investigating the interaction between severe aortic stenosis and coronary artery disease, his presentation is entitled "Coronary Pressure and Flow Pre and Post TAVI: Analysis of Patients With Severe Aortic Stenosis and Coronary Artery Disease: Implications for Clinical Assessment of Functional Coronary Significance”.

Peter O’Gara won the European Society of Cardiology Congress Photography competition at the Frontiers in Cardio Vascular Biology (FCVB) Conference in Vienna.

Professor Terry Tetley was awarded the ERS Basic and Translational Science Assembly Lifetime Achievement Award - read more online.

Congratulations to our two NHLI Foundation Travel Award winners who have recently returned from their conferences - read how they got on in their reports below:
 

  • Viktoria Kalna - EMBL Conference: Transcription and Chromatin, Heidelberg, Germany
  • Margarita Gorodezky - Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
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helen.johnson@imperial.ac.uk

 






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