Category: General updates

Celebrating 10 years of successes in the Department of Medicine

Members of the Department of Medicine
Clockwise from TLHC: MSc Human Molecular Genetics alumni at this year’s graduation ceremony with Professor Toby Andrew and Dr Filippo Tamanini; Vanessa Powell, Joanna Thompson, Vicky Salem and Leah Grey, who helped to lead and coordinate the Department’s successful Athena SWAN Silver Award renewal; Members of the Paediatric Infectious Disease research team at this year’s President’s Awards ceremony; Dr Djordje Gveric and Professor Richard Reynolds working in the Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Tissue Bank.

Before the launch of the new Faculty of Medicine structure on 1 August 2019, we reflect on a decade of successes in the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London.

This overview captures just a small number of the countless contributions of our staff and students over the years. We would like to thank all members of the Department, past and present, their immeasurable hard work, friendship and support.

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As it happened: CMBI Away Day

CMBI Away Day

The MRC CMBI had its annual Away Day on 21 June at the Linnean Society London in London’s Piccadilly. The theme for the day was “The Art of New Biology: Creativity, Technologies and Multidisciplinarity”. The day-long activities included five scientific talks and a treasure hunt organised by students and postdocs.

Professor Alain Filloux, who took over as Interim CMBI Director in March 2019, started the day’s proceedings with a brief history of the CMBI which is now in its 7th year and has grown to 22 members of PIs, 75 PhD students and 75 postdocs.

Among the speakers was Molly Stevens, Professor of Biomedical Materials & Regenerative Medicine, Department of Materials, who presented a breath-taking overview of her group’s work on new materials and diagnostic tools. Karen Polizzi from the Department of Chemical Engineering spoke on better biosensor designs for various bioprocesses. Roser Vento from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge presented insight on maternal-foetal crosstalk deciphered using cutting-edge single-cell RNAseq technologies. Professor Peter Childs, Head of the Dyson School of Design, captured everyone’s imagination by showcasing exciting and commercially successful products designed at Imperial and by inspiring the audience to be creative in their scientific projects. Professor Tony Cass, Department of Chemistry, spoke on devices his group invented to help quantify various health parameters in humans.

PhD students Will Pearson, Amy Switzer, postdoctoral associate Camilla Godlee and laboratory manager Megan Winterbotham together organised a fun-filled treasure hunt in the Piccadilly area. Participants tweeted pictures of themselves at various stops along the way and winners received chocolate hampers! The day concluded with drinks, nibbles and, for those interested, cricket at a local pub.

The CMBI Away Days aim to foster team building and networking and includes talks by scientists from diverse fields. Past themes have included “Evolution” and “The Science of Language and the Language of Science”. As with previous years, the 2019 Away Day was organised by Dr Avinash Shenoy, Lecturer in the Centre, with help from the Centre Manager, Nicola Tingley.

Getting to know the new Department of Immunology and Inflammation

Department of Immunology and Inflammation
Members of the new Department of Immunology and Inflammation gathered at the Academy of Medical Sciences in central London. 

On Friday 10 May, academics gathered at the Academy of Medical Sciences to define the direction and priorities of the new Department of Immunology and Inflammation, ahead of its official launch this August.


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Promoting autism awareness in Nigeria

Staff and students at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Dr Ani helped to establish the postgraduate training programme in Child and Adolescent Mental Health now run by the Centre.
Staff and students at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Dr Ani (centre) helped to establish the postgraduate training programme in Child and Adolescent Mental Health now run by the Centre. Professor Olayinka Omigbodun, Head of Psychiatry at the University of Ibadan and Director of the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, is pictured centre-right. 

Dr Cornelius Ani, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Department’s Centre for Psychiatry, recently visited Nigeria to promote autism awareness as part of World Autism Day 2019. (more…)

In profile: Dr Sophie Rutschmann, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead for Postgraduate Education (Faculty of Medicine)

Dr Sophie Rutschmann
Dr Sophie Rutschmann

In the latest instalment of our Staff Profile series, we spoke to Dr Sophie Rutschmann about balancing her two roles as a Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead for Postgraduate Education in the Faculty of Medicine, the far-reaching benefits of teaching, and fostering an effective learning environment for students. (more…)

Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism | Key achievements for 2018

Professor Gary Frost
Professor Gary Frost

We asked each Division in the Department to share with us their key achievements as part of our end of year roundup. Here are the contributions from Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. Well done everyone! (more…)