UCL SCHOOL OF LIFE AND MEDICAL
SCIENCES
(incorporating UCL MEDICAL SCHOOL)
SLMS BULLETIN – 28 NOVEMBER 2011
Dear Colleagues
The bulletin aims to keep staff up to date with School activities, events,
awards, achievements and news.
Please forward any comments or feedback to the School
Communications Manager, email: slms-editor@ucl.ac.uk or direct to me
at: viceprovosthealth@ucl.ac.uk.
Kind regards
Professor Sir John Tooke
Vice-Provost (Health), Head of UCL School of Life & Medical Sciences
Web: www.ucl.ac.uk/slms
Twitter: @ucl_slms
In this issue:
1 UCL Institute of Ophthalmology wins Queen’s Anniversary Prize
2 Domain Chair vacancy
3 Appointment of Vice-Provost (Education)
4 SLMS International Prize Committee
5 UCL Therapeutic Innovation Fund
6 SLMS in the media
7 Public engagement
8 Future SLMS events
9 New starters in SLMS
SLMS News
UCL Institute of Ophthalmology wins Queen’s Anniversary Prize
The UCL Institute of Ophthalmology is the recipient of a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and
Further Education, in recognition of “outstanding excellence” The Prizes are the most prestigious form
of national recognition open to a UK academic or vocational institution. The awards are presented every
two years by The Queen, with The Duke of Edinburgh, in recognition of work by universities and
colleges which is judged to be of world class excellence. More: www.ucl.ac.uk/news/newsarticles/1111/111124-queen-anniversary-prize-ophthalmology
SLMS Domain Chair vacancy
SLMS Reproduction & Development Domain Chair job description is available
online:www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/vacancies.
Appointment of Vice Provost (Education)
Professor Anthony Smith has been appointed Vice-Provost (Education), with effect from 1 January
2012. Anthony has been Principal and Dean of the School of Pharmacy since 2006. Anthony is a
distinguished scientist, with special interests in pharmacy education; antibiotic therapy and resistance;
biofilms and microbiology.
SLMS International Prize Committee
Professor Tony Segal chairs a committee to facilitate the candidature of members for scientific prizes,
awards and fellowships (updated - 11/2011 - list: www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/newsletter/scienceprize3); other
committee members are Professor Linda Partridge (vice-chair), Professor David Attwell, Professor
Salvador Moncada and Professor Semir Zeki.
Please contact Tony Segal (email: t.segal@ucl.ac.uk) or another member of the committee if you know
of anyone suitable for consideration.
UCL Therapeutic Innovation Fund
This announcement launches the 3rd annual call for applications to the UCL Therapeutic Innovation
Fund which provides seed funding to support the translation of UCL biomedical innovations towards
clinical patient benefit.
The fund is open to investigators from UCL and UCL Partners and applications across the therapeutic
spectrum from discovery to clinical studies are welcomed.
Funding of up to £50,000 per project is expected to focus on defined objectives and milestones within a
discrete phase of the discovery continuum and an important success criterion for projects is to advance
research to the point of being competitive in attracting further significant funding.
Details of the fund and how to apply can be found at: www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/vacancies/
eHealth Symposium
On 22nd November, we held an e-health symposium to bring together the enormously varied
community of researchers with an interest in e-Health, including academics with a background in clinical
medicine, psychology, sociology, health informatics, human-computer interaction, computational
science, computer science and engineering; to exchange expertise, interest and ideas with a view to
establishing future collaborations and strengthening UCL as a research centre for e-Health; and to
showcase our diverse expertise to the wider community
Approximately 130 UCL staff members.
For further information about the symposium or the SLMS Population Health Domain please contact
Sarah Ball, Strategic Coordinator, Population Health Domain School of Life and Medical Sciences.
SLMS in the Media
Healthcare set to be 'transformed' by genomics
There are unparalleled opportunities for medicine from genomics, stem cells and the field of
regenerative medicine says UCL Vice-Provost (Health), Professor Sir John Tooke. Read: BBC News
More: Daily Telegraph More...
Women with low-risk pregnancies 'should have birth choices'
Professor Peter Brocklehurst (UCL Institute for Women's Health) comments that giving birth in
England is generally very safe. Read: Guardian More: Daily Telegraph Daily Mail Oxford press release
Healthy pregnancies
Pregnancy and childbirth have moved again to the top of political agenda. NICE has approved
caesarean sections for women who want them, the Royal College of Midwives has produced a report
claiming a dire shortage of midwives in the UK, and a leading paediatrician has said that tens of
thousands of babies are being damaged by the effects of their mothers smoking, drinking, taking drugs,
or being overweight. Listen to Professor Terence Stephenson on Women’s Hour. Listen BBC IPlayer:
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017chpr
How we see family resemblance in faces
Dr Harry Griffin (UCL Interaction Centre) sheds light on our ability to identify members of a family from
facial structures. Read: Times of India More...
Tate Liverpool exhibition inspires pioneering science games
Inspired by Tate Liverpool’s current exhibition, Alice in Wonderland, an art-science collaborative made
up of scientists, led by UCL Institute of Child Health Dr Michelle de Haan, curators, game designers
and filmmakers, have just launched Wondermind, a series of pioneering interactive games, videos and
an online blog to help children learn about the science of the developing human brain. Read:
www.ucl.ac.uk/news/slms/slms-news/neuroscience/11112401-wondermind-game
Affairs of the heart: the triumph of drugs
Dr Kevin Fong (UCL Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology) talks to his former tutor, Professor
Raymond MacAllister of University College Hospital, about drugs that reduce the number of heart
attacks.
Watch more in the Guardian
Public engagement
Researchers engage students at Wellcome Trust 75th anniversary workshop
Last week, researchers from the London Pain Consortium (LPC), including a number of scientists
from UCL’s Department of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, ran a workshop in which local
Camden high-school students could explore the biology of pain and touch through a series of practical
experiments and interactive activities. More: www.ucl.ac.uk/news/slms/slmsnews/neuroscience/11111601-touch-and-pain-workshop
Opportunities for early-career researchers and prizes for public engagement at all levels
Opportunities for postgrads/early postdocs/RAs
If you want to talk about your work with people from outside your discipline, you could give a Bite-Sized
Lunchtime Lecture next term. These 15-minute talks give early-career researchers an opportunity to
explore their work with a public audience. To find out more, and to apply by Monday 12 December, visit
the UCL Public Engagement Unit web pages: www.ucl.ac.uk/public-engagement/opportunities/bitesized
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All staff
Do you know someone who deserves recognition for their public engagement work? This is
your opportunity to nominate a colleague (or be nominated yourself) for the third annual
Provost's Awards for Public Engagement.
The deadline for nominations is Monday 12 December. Find out more about the categories and
how you can nominate UCL students and staff on the Public Engagement Unit web pages:
www.ucl.ac.uk/public-engagement/opportunities/awards2011
Up and coming events
28 November 2011, 18:00 - 21:00
UCL Lancet Lecture: Economic Growth and Women’s Health Outcomes: A Deepening Divide?
Professor Jayati Ghosh , Jawaharlal Nehru University
One of the most surprising features of the recent rapid income growth in emerging economies is how it
has not been associated with significant improvements in women’s health outcomes. In this lecture
Professor Ghosh will use indicators (such as the infant mortality rate, the maternal mortality rate and the
child sex ratio) to explore the specific experience of India over the past two decades. Some possible
factors influencing the gap between aggregate income growth and women’s health will be considered,
and implications will be drawn for economic and health policies in developing countries in general
Further information and registration details: http://events.ucl.ac.uk/event/event:u1y-gsh6z83f-ibswnl/
28 November 2011
Research on Physical Activity and Health in London: From laboratory to environmental and
population studies
A Symposium & Networking Event organised by UCL’s Physical Activity Research Group (PARG) and
the UCL Population Health Domain
The inaugural PARG Symposium aims to bring together University of London researchers and
academics interested in any aspect of health-related physical activity. By interweaving laboratory
sciences, epidemiology and public health, the built environment and active transportation, and exercise
medicine, this will be a truly cross-disciplinary event. For more information, and details of how to register
for this free event please visit the PARG symposium webpage
(https://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/domains/population-health/parg/parg_symposium)
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:
You are invited to submit an abstract for a presentation or poster presentation on any aspects of
physical activity research, implementation, or future research plans.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 13 November.
Full details are available at (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/domains/populationhealth/parg/parg_symposium)
Tuesday 29 November 2011
FESTSCHRIFT IN HONOUR OF PROFESSOR PAT WOO
UCL Institute of Child Heath with UCL Division of Infection and Immunity invite you to join us on
the afternoon of Tuesday 29 November 2011, for a Festschrift Symposium in honour of Pat Woo,
Professor of Paediatric Rheumatology, on the occasion of her retirement. Presenters confirmed to
participate include: Professor Mary Collins, UCL; Professor David Isenberg, UCL; Dr. Dan Kastner,
NIAMS; and Professor Alberto Martini, University of Genova.
The symposium, which is free of charge but requires registration, will be held at the UCL Institute of
Child Health. Please note that space in the lecture theatre is limited and so seats will be allocated on a
first registered first served basis. To register for the symposium and for further details, please visit
http://profwoofestschrift.eventbrite.com
30th November 2011, 13.10-14.00
Eastman Dental Institute Lecture
Phage dUTPases control transfer of virulence genes by an oncogenic G protein like mechanism
José R Penadés, Instituto Investigación en Ganadería de Montaña, Castellón, Spain
Location: lecture room L2
Contact: e.allan@ucl.ac.uk
Tuesday 6th December 2011, 17.30-20.00
UCL Medical School – Medical Education seminar
Conceptions of learning and leadership - implications for education and leadership development in a
research-intensive university
Dr Anita Berlin
Location: Wilkins Garden Room, UCL
The seminar will start with an introduction to the exhibition 'The Slave-owners of Bloomsbury' by one of
the curators, Kate Donington. After Dr Berlin's presentation there will be drinks and networking
opportunities in the South Cloisters where the exhibition is on display.
There will also be a festive Christmas market and concert in the Front Quad from 5.00-8.00pm,
have a mince pie, some mulled wine and enjoy the whole evening.
Further information/registration: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/2361806226?ref=elink"
8 December 2011, 17.00-18.30
Yale UCL Collaborative Senior Scientist Lecture 2011-2012
Guidance of vascular patterning: lessons from the nervous system
Anne Eichmann, Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Cardiovascular Research Center, Yale University
School of Medicine
Location: Darwin Lecture Theatre | University College London
Lecture to be followed by a wine reception in the Cruciform Cafe, Cruciform Building, Gower Street
For more information about Yale UCL Collaborative visit: www.yale-ucl.org/.
The lecture series receives generous support from SHM Productions: www.shm-ltd.co.uk.
Friday 9th-Sunday 11th December 2011
Ron Britton Today Conference
This year’s Psychoanalysis Unit December conference will focus on the work of Ron Britton. As a UCL
graduate in medicine and a Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst in the British Psychoanalytical
Society who has spoken and conducted clinical seminars throughout the world, Ron Britton has made a
series of major and original contributions in several areas by developing thinking on several topics
including:
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Triangular space and the “Third Position”
The psychic structure of belief including his understanding of fundamentalism and idolatry
The understanding of Hysteria and the primal scene
PS(n) >D(n)>PS(n+1).....D(n+1) – that is to say to states of mind marked by an ongoing
dialectical process of “un-integration” to “integration” to “de-integration” to “aspiration” and back
again
Narcissistic structures –particularly hyper-subjectivity and hyper-objectivity (or in other words
thin-skinned & thick-skinned narcissistic disorders)
The need for agreement and its potential for malignant misunderstanding. His interesting idea,
which he considers his most important clinical observation, is that at least in some states the
subjectively felt need for agreement is inversely proportional to the expectation of understanding
Speakers will include: Liana Chaves, Peter Fonagy, Mary Target, and David Taylor.
In addition Ron Britton and David Tuckett will hold a dialogue on some of Britton’s key ideas in
discussion with the audience.
CALL FOR PAPERS
If you would like to submit a paper, to be presented in a parallel session on Saturday please send us an
abstract of 300 words setting out your main argument and how you will approach it. You could write on
any aspect of Britton’s work that has influenced you or you wish to discuss but we are particularly keen
to see papers on the six topics mentioned above. Please submit abstracts by 1 st October 2011.
SEMINARS
Small group clinical seminars will be offered (led by leading UK analysts) on Friday 9 th December from
6.00-7.30pm. An additional clinical meeting will be held earlier on the Friday afternoon (2.00–5.00pm)
when David Tuckett will hold an additional extended clinical seminar designed to look at the core
components of psychoanalytic technique and ways of reflecting on and conceptualizing one’s own
technique.
Confirmed leaders of the Friday evening seminar will include David Bell, Catalina Bronstein, Dana
Birksted Breen, Claire Cripwell, Betty Joseph, Priscilla Roth and David Taylor.
For further information and booking, please visit:
www.ucl.ac.uk/psychoanalysis/events/conferences/conferences-forthcoming.php or contact
n.harding@ucl.ac.uk
14th December 2011, 16.30
Motor-Sensory Learning of Foreign Speech
Anna Simmonds
Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Lab (C3NL) and MRC Clinical Sciences Centre,
Imperial College London
Location: The Levinsky Room, Philip Ullmann Wing, UCL Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street,
London, WC1N 1EH
21 February 2012 (14.00-17.00)
UCL Adolescent Health & Development workshop
If you are a researcher or clinician interested in adolescent health or development, you are strongly
encouraged to attend the initial Adolescent Health & Development workshop.
This initiative aims to establish a cross-UCL network on Adolescent Health & Development. The
network will support research, build capacity, enable networking and identify UCL as a world leader in
adolescent health and development.
The network is jointly supported by the Reproduction & Development Domain and the Population Health
Domain, but we welcome participants from any part of UCL and partners.
A detailed programme will be available soon.
To attend, please notify Christian White (gapadmin@ich.ucl.ac.uk).
For more information, please contact Prof. Russell Viner (r.viner@ucl.ac.uk).
Location: Kennedy Lecture Theatre, UCL Institute of Child Health
New starters in SLMS
New Starters in SLMS (for the period 14th – 20th November)
UCL Division of Psychology & Language Sciences: Mr Robin Weedon, Honorary Research
Assistant; Dr Andrea Alenda, Honorary Research Associate; Miss Fleur Corbett, Postgraduate Teaching
Assistant; Mr Simon Grobler, Teaching Fellow; Mr John Towler, Postgraduate Teaching Assistant; Ms
Jeumin Xu, Postgraduate Teaching Assistant.
UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences: Ms Edna Murphy, Faculty Manager - Medical Sciences.
UCL Institute for Women's Health : Miss Marzena Orzol, Coordinator.
UCL Mental Health Sciences Unit: Ms Alyssa Milton, Research Assistant.
UCL Cancer Institute: Miss Lynda Micklewright, Data Manager; Miss Abigail Sharp, Trial Co-ordinator.
UCL Ear Institute: Miss Andria Kyamidou, Research Assistant.