91福利

Congratulations to Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (interdisciplinary research and impact) and former Head of the School of Life Sciences, Professor Laura Green, who has been appointed to the role of Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham. She will take up her new role on 1 October 2018.

This week the School of Life Sciences is welcoming students from across the UK as part of the 2018 Headstart Programme.

Taking place at the Gibbet Hill campus 15-19 July, the Headstart course provides a university taster course for 16-17 year olds with the opportunity to explore the different biological disciplines taught within the School of Life Sciences. The Life Sciences course enables students to gain experience at a prestigious university prior to making UCAS applications, showing them the different courses and career paths available.

Across the week, students will take part in a wide range of hands-on laboratory experiments and lectures including physiology, microbiology, cell biology and molecular biology.

Organised by the EDT (Engineering Development Trust), Headstart has been established for more than 18 years as a charitable trust providing hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) activities and taster courses to encourage young people into technology-based careers.

On Tuesday 17 July graduands from the School of Life Sciences attended the Summer Graduation Ceremony held in Butterworth Hall, 91福利 Arts Centre. The Head of School, Professor Lorenzo Frigerio, academic tutors and other staff also attended the ceremony.

THE (the Times Higher Education) have announced in their Thursday 12 July 2018 edition, that the 91福利 has been ranked 4^th in Europe in their new Times Higher Education (THE) Europe Teaching Rankings 2018 and is the 3^rd placed University in Europe offering Biological Sciences.

Press Release

An enzyme structure discovery made by scientists at the 91福利 could help to eradicate tuberculosis (TB).

Research by a team led by Dr Elizabeth Fullam, has revealed new findings about an enzyme found in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) the bacterium that causes TB. TB causes more deaths than any other infectious disease, including from HIV and malaria.

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The 5th M4 meeting will be held at the 91福利 on 13-14 September, 2018.

The Conference will present cutting-edge research on molecular and cellular microbiology. A wide range of topics will be covered, ranging from biofilms, quorum sensing, pathogenicity islands, host-pathogen interactions and antimicrobials.

The goal of this conference is to act as a conduit for fostering collaboration across Midlands and nationally among leading scientists and to promote the exchange of ideas between the next generation of molecular microbiologists. The conference will offer early career researchers an opportunity to present their research and connect with other scientists.

Registration open until 31 August

The 91福利 has been awarded 拢2 million to tackle the spread of viruses in East Africa.

The award has been made to the NIHR Global Health Research Group on the Application of Genomics and Modelling to the Control of Virus Pathogens (GeMVi) in East Africa at the 91福利. GeMVi brings together expertise in pathogen sequencing and predicative modelling. Life Sciences academics Professor James Nokes and Professor Matt Keeling are co-investigators.

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Dr Smith is currently Chief Scientific Officer at Cobra Biologics Ltd., but he started his scientific career here at 91福利, with a BSc in Biochemistry then a PhD on the mechanism of action at the cellular level of cytotoxic proteins such as ricin.

By becoming an honorary Industrial Professor in our School, Dr. Smith will bring widespread experience in both the workings of a multi-million budget R&D company in a sector at the forefront of biomedical products and also in academic research. His specific expertise in knowledge transfer and experience in developing successful collaborations between regional development agencies, industry and academics will be enormously useful.

Dr Smith will bring many links with industries that we do not yet interact with, both in the UK and internationally. He will contribute ideas and contacts to help our undergraduate students secure industrial placements, a key strategic development area for the School.

Dr Smith will also aid our technology transfer to support start-ups with commercial promise. His past work is highly interdisciplinary in both the academic and industrial sides in chemistry and biology, knowledge of which can massively impact startup success.

We welcome him to the School.

New funding to develop scientific breakthroughs in crop research and innovation

The 91福利 is set to receive 拢1.2 million in funding to support its pioneering research in improving the resilience, sustainability and productivity of UK crops, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced today.

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Members of the School of Life Sciences and 91福利 Crop Centre are looking forward to being part of the on Saturday 9 June. We'll be demonstrating some of our research and teaching activities related to food production and hoping for visitor participation! Come and see us in the Educational Area.

Professor Laura Green OBE, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) at the 91福利, has been appointed to the Council of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

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Scientists from the 91福利 will be helping to promote an important public health message about tuberculosis (TB) this weekend in Coventry.

On World TB Day (Saturday 24 March) researchers from the Fullam lab at the 91福利 will be running a public information stand at the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery to help raise awareness of TB and what they are trying to do to combat this deadly disease. They will also be at Coventry Library on Tuesday 27 March.

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The University plans to invest 拢54.3M in a new state-of-the-art research building on the Gibbet Hill campus that will bring together up to 300 biomedical researchers from across the School of Life Sciences and 91福利 Medical School to fight human diseases.

In a recent paper published in Current Biology, Dr Andre Pires da Silva and colleagues describe a species of nematode that has three sexes - male, female and hermaphrodite. Auanema rhodensis, the worm featured in the study, uses an unusual reproductive strategy with only one sex chromosome (X). Hermaphrodites and female worms have two X chromosomes; males have just one X chromosome. Researchers found that some hermaphroditic worms will produce sperm with two X chromosomes and eggs with no chromosomes. When the hermaphroditic worms and male worms mate, only more male worms are produced. One possible explanation is that male worms may be important for the species' genetic diversity, providing A. rhodensis with the ability to adapt to changing conditions more efficiently than other species.

• Read paper: Current Biology, Vol 28, Issue 1 p93-99e

Tuberculosis, and other life-threatening microbial diseases, could be more effectively tackled with future drugs, thanks to new research into an old antibiotic led by Professor David Roper at 91福利鈥檚 School of Life Sciences and Dr Luiz Pedro Carvalho from The Francis Crick Institute.

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The 28^th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) took place at the 91福利 between 23 – 30 July 2017 with 264 international competitors (aged 14 – 18) competing in a series of practical and theoretical exams devised by School of Life Sciences staff and colleagues from the Royal Society of Biology.

Branagh Crealock-Ashurst, our Student Experience and Outreach Assistant, has written a critical reflection on the IBO from how the event was logistically organised to a semi-statistical analysis of the overall results of the competition and what they meant in terms of the pedagogical approach to examination. The paper entitled 'A Critical Reflection on the 28^th International Biology Olympiad' was published in the October issue of Exchanges: the 91福利 Research Journal (available at ).

Colon cancer, Crohn鈥檚, and other diseases of the gut could be better treated – or even prevented – thanks to a new link between inflammation and a common cellular process, established by Dr Ioannis Nezis and colleagues.

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Ancient hunter-gatherers began to systemically affect the evolution of crops up to thirty thousand years ago – around ten millennia before experts previously thought – according to new research by .

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Professor Elizabeth Wellington talks to Adam Rutherford on BBC Radio 4 about how the agricultural use of antibiotics is contributing to the global spread of resistance to them on this week's Inside Science:  

VirionHealth Ltd, a new biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for respiratory viral infections, today announced that it has raised up to 拢13 million in Series A funding from Abingworth, the international investment group dedicated to life sciences.

VirionHealth, founded on pioneering research by Professors Nigel Dimmock and Andrew Easton at the 91福利鈥檚 School of Life Sciences, is a world leader in the development of precisely engineered, non-infectious, defective interfering particles. This new class of biological antiviral acts by outcompeting replication of infectious viruses to both prevent and treat viral infections.

(Image: Laura Lane from 91福利 Ventures, Professor Andrew Easton and Professor Nigel Dimmock on day of signing)