Blog posts

Imperial College School of Medicine recognises excellence in undergraduate teaching

The undergraduate School’s annual awards ceremony took place on Wednesday 15 November at Imperial’s Charing Cross campus.

Awards table
The awards are presented jointly by the School of Medicine and the School of Medicine Students’ Union

In conjunction with the Medical Students’ Union, teaching staff of all levels and disciplines are recognised with a variety of awards, spanning both clinical and non-clinical teachers, personal tutors, teaching fellows and student support roles.

Students who nominate staff members are invited to speak about the recipient prior to each award’s presentation. This year, each noted in particular the care and attention given to individual students, and the emphasis put on the importance of learning, by the staff members recognised. (more…)

Update from the Section of Vascular Surgery

New appointments

  • We have had two clinical lecturers appointed this year (including one NIHR funded) – Tristan Lane and Sarah Onida
  • We have had two new research fellows appointed to the department: Amar Abdullah and Lydia Hanna

Sarah Onida – Clinical Lecturer in Vascular Surgery

  • November 2017 – Second prize at the American College of Phlebology for the following oral presentation: “Clinical Scoring, Disease Specific Quality of life and Duplex Features in Chronic Venous Disease”
  • September 2017 – First prize at the VI International Interuniversity Meeting for the following oral presentation: “The relationship  between disease specific clinical and quality of life scores in chronic venous disease”

(more…)

Patient Safety Translational Research Centre Annual Symposium

On the 23 November, the NIHR Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (PSTRC) together with NHS Improvement co-hosted the Fifth Annual NIHR Imperial PSTRC Symposium at the Royal Academy of Engineering. The exciting programme included keynote speaker Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health.

There was a clear theme throughout the day of patients, carers and the public being equal partners with researchers, healthcare professionals and policy-makers (who were all represented in the audience). Jono Broad, Patient Leader (Q Community), did a truly inspiring talk about how care should be patient-centred and good leadership, culture, quality improvement, human factors and technological advancements are all essential elements to improve patient safety. (more…)

Ylenia Perone awarded registration grant

Ylenia Perone, clinician and PhD student has been awarded a registration grant from the Society for Endocrinology to attend the conference SfE BES 2017.

Held in November in Harrogate, this annual conference brings together experts from both the clinical and scientific field working on endocrine diseases and hormone-dependent tumours.

Ylenia is working on oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer in Dr. Luca Magnani’s group in the Department of Surgery and Cancer. Dr Sheba Jarvis, working in Bevan’s group in the same Department is an active member of the Society for Endocrinology and she sponsored Ylenia for this registration grant. (more…)

MSc students visit the Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science

The opportunity to gain first-hand insight into the challenges within the UK healthcare system might not be something that’s readily available outside Imperial College, and a group of newly enrolled students on the MSc International Health Management programme took full advantage when they visited the Centre for Engagement and Simulation Science (ICCESS) on 6 October.

The students watched a Sequential Simulation of a patient visiting hospital following a heart attack and undergoing a coronary angioplasty. The ICCESS team designed the simulation to show interactions between patients and clinicians in difficult circumstances; in this case due to a shortage of nursing staff. The student cohort, many of whom are from outside the UK and have no previous experience of the UK healthcare system, then worked in groups to discuss the challenges presented in the simulation and how things could be improved.  (more…)

WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training update

Study Tour: NHS

Last summer, the WHO Collaborating Centre hosted a delegation from China for a study tour to witness first hand the UK NHS.

Study Tours are organised in collaboration with Colleagues from the NHS and are hugely valued opportunity for professionals from other countries to familiarise themselves with the organisational intricacies of the British National Health Service, which serves as an example to other health systems. 

Dr Jie Shen

Dr Jie Shen, a medical doctor in Cognitive and Emotional Neuroscience from China spent three months with Who Collaborating Centre focusing on research and attending relevant clinics within NHS. (more…)

Update from the MSk Lab

Dr Pav Sarai (PhD student in Paul Strutton’s Lab) won first prize for his talk on developing magnetic brain stimulation for neuro-monitoring during vascular surgery at the recent Vascular Anaesthesia Society of Great Britain and Ireland meeting. This pilot work (partly carried out by MRes student Charlotte Luff) on healthy subjects paves the way for exploration of this technique during complex aortic aneurysm surgery, where there is a risk of paralysis.

(more…)

Monthly update from the Institute of Global Health Innovation

News/events

Storify: Fifth Annual NIHR Imperial PSTRC Symposium

World’s largest health science fiction prize awarded

Would you like to take part in UK Robotics Week 2018?

How can we facilitate the digital transformation of the NHS?

Launch of the Imperial Network of Excellence in Malaria

Annual lecture: Healthcare and artificial intelligence

(more…)

Janet Powell Honorary Lecture at ESVS 2017

Janet Powell, Professor of Vascular Biology & Medicine in the Department of Surgery & Cancer, recently delivered the first Janet Powell Honorary Lecture at the European Society for Vascular Surgery Congress 2017 – the first of a series of annual lectures in honour of Janet’s contributions to the subject.

Held in Lyon in September, Janet’s lecture at the annual meeting focused on evidence-based vascular surgery. Janet will also be giving the British Journal of Surgery invited lecture at the annual meeting of the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland on 24 November in Manchester. (more…)

Applications open for Calibre Leadership Programme

Do you consider yourself to be disabled? Do you face extra challenges at work?

Find out more about the Calibre leadership development programme for disabled staff by coming along to one of the taster sessions being held in November and December. The Calibre programme is delivered by Dr Ossie Stuart, an international disability consultant and academic, alongside the College’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Centre. This is a great course which staff with disabilities are encouraged to attend. The new course starts in January 2018. Registration for the Calibre Taster Sessions is via ICIS My Training.

Find out more (more…)

CRISH: Co-Creating Innovative Solutions for Health

Co-Creating Innovative Solutions for Healthcare (CRISH) is a free EIT Health short course for which there is a London edition on 21 and 22 November 2017.  The course aims to teach multidisciplinary healthcare team members eg. clinician/ nurse/ AHP/ manager/ researcher/ patient to co-create solutions for healthcare together (these can cover service provision, research, device or other innovation development). The idea is that up to 3 different types of stakeholders from the same team (or subject area) would come to the course together (preferably with a patient/member of the public) and work on their real-life project. Individuals (who are not in a team) may also apply to attend and it may be possible to group them with others depending on their area of interest, however, preference will be given to those who apply as a group.

Further details are found in the CRISH brochure and also the link to the website where people can apply.

Please circulate this opportunity to those you think may be interested and get in touch with Maria Piggin if you have any questions.

 

Diverse@Imperial week: open call

Diverse@Imperial week is a week-long celebration of Imperial’s diverse community and the talent within it, taking place from 29 Jan – 2 Feb 2018.

During the week, there will be an exhibition in the South Kensington main entrance, showcasing stories from Imperial staff and students, and these stories will be shared online throughout the week as well.

The College Social Media team are doing an open call for staff and students to volunteer to be interviewed so we can write and share these stories. Interested staff/students should email socialmedia@imperial.ac.uk to find out more.

 

 

 

My ambitions for a fulfilling year ahead

Professor Jonathan Weber
This is my first month as Acting Dean of the Faculty, following Gavin Screaton’s departure to become Head of the Division of Medical Sciences at Oxford at the end of September. After 14 very successful years at Imperial, we wish Gavin every success as he takes on his new challenge.

My first few weeks in this role have been busy (inevitably) and fascinating in equal measure; I have been briefed on all the very wide responsibilities which sit with the Dean. It has helped that three of the four Deans of Faculty at Imperial are also in their first month, and we have been learning from each other. Within the Faculty we also welcome two new members of staff to the senior management team this month:

  • Dr Chris Watkins has joined us as Faculty Operating Officer from the MRC, where he was Director of Innovation, as well as having recently completed a part-time secondment as Head of Knowledge Exchange for the Francis Crick Institute.
  • Dr Des Walsh has taken up post as Director of Research Strategy for the Faculty, bringing to this role a wealth of experience from his last roles as Head of Infections and Immunity and, most recently, Head of Population & Systems Medicine at the MRC.

I look forward to working with both Chris and Des and all the senior leads here to support the Faculty’s work over the coming year. (more…)

Update from Imperial College Research Ethics Committee

Calling all postgrads!

Imperial College London would like to recruit a PG Student Representative for the Imperial College Research Ethics Committee (ICREC). Imperial College Research Ethics Committee was set up in order to meet requirements from external research funders for ethical review of proposals, which are not within the remit of NHS Research Ethics Committees.

A key aim of the Committee is to enable Imperial College to maintain the highest ethical standards in all research relating to human subjects.  ICREC normally convenes 6 times during each academic year, on a bi-monthly basis. The meetings normally 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. (more…)

CATO: Clinical Academic Training Office

CATO is part of the Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), a partnership between Imperial College Healthcare Trust, Imperial College London, The Royal Marsden Foundation Trust and Royal Brompton & Harefield Foundation Trust. The CATO mission is to encourage and support doctors, nurses, midwives, AHP’s, pharmacists, and healthcare scientists – into clinical academic careers.  This drive within Imperial corresponds with national initiatives led by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), Health Education England (HEE) and others to increase and develop research engagement and allow clinicians opportunities to bring their expertise and questioning minds to the research table and contribute to enhanced patient care and outcomes.  Many of the activities and resources offered by CATO are only available to people working within the Imperial College AHSC. (more…)

Lecture recordings

The College provides Panopto to support recording of course lectures. While not obligatory, there are many good reasons to use this technology and the College encourages staff to make use of its capabilities.

Panopto is a flexible and easy-to-use platform that allows Imperial College staff to record audio, video, PowerPoint presentations and capture secondary sources e.g. visualiser. It can be used to record lectures, module introductions, assessment feedback and a range of other multimedia content.

Find out more and how to get started 

 

New SharePoint sites

The Faculty of Medicine has released two new SharePoint sites designed to provide all Faculty of Medicine staff with access to a central key contacts list and process repository. You will need to use Office 365 login (collegeusername@ic.ac.uk) to access these sites.

Key Contacts

Purpose:

To provide one central list of key safety and other defined roles to ensure that this information is recorded, updated and reviewed and can be updated in one source. (more…)

Innovative teaching spaces built at Charing Cross’s lab block

Over the summer months, three lecture theatres in the Lab Block at the Charing Cross campus underwent extensive refurbishment. The changes are in line with the College’s Learning and Teaching Strategy, and the spaces have been redesigned to facilitate different, more effective teaching methods, and better accommodating small group teaching.

While the 10th floor space remains in a tiered, theatre structure, it has been fully redecorated and includes new seating and brighter lighting.

10th floor space before and after

(more…)

ICCESS update: International Symposium on Performance Science

International Symposium on Performance Science

Professor Roger Kneebone has recently returned from the highly successful biennial International Symposium on Performance Science (ISPS), hosted in Reykjavik’s iconic Harpa opera house. The conference, jointly led by Professor Aaron Williamon (co-director with Roger of the Royal College of Music-Imperial Centre for Performance Science) and the classical guitarist Professor, Petur Jonasson, brought together academics and practitioners from dance, music, medicine and other disciplines. (more…)

Student club offers training to build confidence in public speaking

Imperial College Speakers Toastmasters Club is a student-run club to help Imperial students improve their public speaking and communication skills in a friendly and supportive environment. At every meeting, students have the opportunity to give speeches on a variety of topics, practice impromptu speaking, offer constructive and detailed feedback to each other, and socialize with a diverse group of people from across the Imperial College community. Each meeting provides a valuable opportunity for students to hone the public speaking skills that are essential to effective lab meetings, conferences, class presentations, and other professional events.

Our club serves undergraduate and postgraduate students from all backgrounds. We recognise that students, especially those in the STEM subjects, are eager to find a welcoming venue to practice their speaking skills. We would also like to increase our diversity and reach out to students who would benefit from this club. Our club essentially provides the same service as professional public speaking coaching, but at a membership fee that is a fraction of the typical price of coaching. (more…)