Queen Mary celebrates William Harvey Day

The annual research day, which took place on 16 October, showcased cutting-edge research from staff and students at all stages of their career, and across a variety of disciplines – illustrating the breadth of research across the Faculty. Researchers presented their work under four thematic sessions: 

• Advances in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics 

• Enhancing health through behaviour, policy and practice 

• Infection, immunity and genomic insights  

• Improving cardiometabolic and endocrine outcomes 

We also welcomed four fantastic keynote speakers:  

• Schorstein Lecture: ‘Transformative trends in cancer treatment’, delivered by Dr Susan Galbraith, EVP of Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca 

• Sir Anthony Dawson Lecture: ‘Improving health by applying the science of behaviour’, delivered by Professor Susan Michie, Director of the Centre for Behavioural Change, University College London 

• BATLAA Lecture: ‘Chronic periodontitis – why it matters’, delivered by Professor Francis Hughes, Emeritus Professor of Periodontology at King’s College London 

• William Harvey Lecture: ‘Unlocking voices: transforming research participation for ethnic minorities’, delivered by Professor Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine, University of Leicester 

Speaking about the day, Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, VP Health, said: “William Harvey Day is a highlight in our Faculty calendar - a celebration of the exceptional research and collaboration that defines Queen Mary and our partners. The breadth and quality of the work presented this year reflected not only scientific excellence, but also a shared commitment to improving health outcomes for communities locally and globally. 

“I am deeply grateful to Barts Charity, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, and St Bartholomew’s Hospital for their continued partnership and support,” he added. 

Poster presentation prizes 

Our annual scientific poster competition includes entries from all six of our Institutes under ten different themes. This year, we were extremely fortunate to hold the poster session in the Great Hall at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, which has recently re-opened after a restoration. The overall prize winner was awarded £200, and the prize winners in each category were awarded £100. 

We are delighted to announce this year’s overall winner, Apothecaries Prize winner and the winners for each theme:  

Overall prize winner: Elysia Michelle James (Institute of Dentistry) for ‘Neuroimmune interactions in the oral mucosa’ 

The Apothecaries Prize: Nyree Myatt (Institute of Health Sciences Education) for ‘OSCE fears? Nip it in the bud!’. 

Group 1: Inflammation, infection and immunity 

Winner: Helen Jones (Blizard Institute) - The role of enteropathogens in early mortality of advanced HIV disease in sub-Saharan Africa 

Group 2: Digital health and data science and cardiovascular 

Winner: Thomas Moseley (William Harvey Research Institute) - A novel paradigm for therapeutic modulation of vegfd gene expression 

Group 3: Disease prevention and detection and healthy ageing and lifecourse 

Winner: Martin Vu (Wolfson Institute of Population Health) - Genomics at Birth: Understanding the cost of genomic newborn screening in England 

Group 4: Molecular biology and drug discovery and scholarship 

Winner: Diana Pereira (Institute of Dentistry) - Multiomics atlases of oral and skin tissues reveals fibroblast heterogeneity 

Group 5: Cancer and health 

Winner 1: Alexandra Hadaway (Blizard Institute) - Epigenetic dysregulation of PRC1 in paediatric high-grade glioma 

Winner 2: Jonathan Burden (Barts Cancer Institute) - The role of centrosome amplification in tumour angiogenesis 

Congratulations to all the winners! 

The day concluded with a procession from the Great Hall to the church of St Bartholomew the Great for the annual St Luke’s Tide Service.