ACADEMIC FOUNDATION YEAR 2 POSTS IN Vascular Surgery/Medicine Academic Unit of Vascular Molecular Medicine LIGHT Laboratories Clarendon Road University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9LT Professor Peter Grant, Professor of Medicine Professor Julian Scott, Professor of Vascular Surgery Description of the Academic Unit The Academic Unit is multi-disciplinary and has one Professor of medicine (Professor PJ Grant) and one Professor of Vascular Surgery (Professor DJA Scott), with senior academic staff in diabetes and vascular biology. The major interest of the Academic Unit is the study of genetic and environmental determinants of thrombotic vascular disorders; ischaemic heart disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, venous thromboembolism and the vascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Extensive facilities exist for both clinical and laboratory based research activities. Professor Peter Grant is Head of the Academic Unit. Principal investigators in the Academic Unit are Dr Ramzi Ajjan (Senior Lecturer & DOH Clinician Scientist), Dr Eleanor Scott (Senior Lecturer), Dr Lucinda Summers (Senior Lecturer), Dr Robert Ariens (Reader), Dr Angela Carter (University Research Fellow), Dr Richard Pease and Dr Helen Phillipou. Mr Max Stickland is the Academic Unit Coordinator. The Academic Unit is supported by the MRC, British Heart Foundation, Stroke Association, Health Service Association and the Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust .The Academic Unit has well equipped laboratories with dedicated laboratories for DNA / RNA work, PCR and cell biology. There are also facilities for the measurement of circulating haemostatic proteins, protein purification and functional analysis. Major laboratory equipment includes a Transgenomic WAVE machine for the detection of novel polymorphisms, ABI310 automated flourescent sequencer, Applied Biosystems 7700 real time PCR machine, a BioCad Sprint for protein analysis and a laser scanning confocal microscope. Current clinical and scientific research projects include transcriptional regulation of haemostasis and insulin resistance, characterisation of polymorphic variants in the beta3 integrin gene and the RAGE promoter. Other studies include recombinant expression of fibrinogen and Factor XIII and the role of Factor X and EPR1 in vascular disease. We are also investigating the Glyoxalase system and glycation in diabetes mellitus, the role of the Factor XIII A and B subunits in vascular disease, complement system in ischaemic heart disease, heritability of haemostatic factors in twins and families, haemostatic factors in South Asians and the role of insulin resistance in peripheral vascular disease. D:\681453107.doc Overview of F2 Post in Academic Vascular Surgery/Medicine The Academic Post in Vascular Surgery/medicine is one of the four month attachments in an FY2 programme which also includes Vascular Surgery at Bradford and Diabetes Medicine at the Leeds General Infirmary. The Academic Vascular Surgery/Medicine placement consists of 5 PAs of academic work and 5 PAs of clinical work per week. The academic component aims to develop a range of vascular surgery/diabetes clinical research and teaching skills. The clinical component is in vascular surgery/diabetes, closely linked to relevant aspects of the academic component. In addition, there are teaching sessions throughout the year for all trainees who do an academic placement during their F2 year. These focus on generic research skills. Outline of the Post Prior to starting the placement After appointments successful applicants will be invited to visit the Academic Unit to discuss their forthcoming placement. This will enable us to match you with the most suitable academic supervisor, and to begin planning the specific areas to cover during your placement. Teaching sessions throughout the F2 year Together with other trainees who undertake an academic F2 placement, you will have regular teaching sessions on generic research skills throughout the F2 year. Components of the F2 Post: Vascular Surgery, Bradford Royal Infirmary Leeds General Infirmary (Diabetes Medicine Professor Grant) Vascular Surgery/Medicine (LIGHT) You will meet with your academic supervisor at the start of your placement to review your learning portfolio and the academic opportunities of the placement. You will then agree on a set of academic objectives for the placement. You will receive feedback from your supervisor during the placement about these, and towards the end of the placement will have an appraisal meeting. You will also undertake assessments of academic competencies in the course of your placement. Activities during the academic placement: These will be coordinated by your academic supervisor, and provided by a range of members of the Academic Unit, accompanied by relevant selfdirected learning. D:\681453107.doc Research skills 1. Vascular Surgery/medicine research skills. This will involve developing the generic research skills learned during the F2 year, and focusing on their applications in vascular surgery/medicine research.There are also regular research seminars held by the Academic Unit. 2. Research Training. During the attachment you will trained in a variety of software packages; ( excel, access, SPSS and reference manager). This will enable you to undertake simple database management and statistical analysis of a variety of data sets. Other research skills will include study design and paper/grant writing, analysis and critique. In the laboratory you will be taught cell culture, ELISA, DNA preparation, PCR, confocal microscopy, Mass Spectrometry and a variety of tests of fibrin structure and function. 3. A research project. This will either be a short project, e.g. involving analysis of data already available from a research study, or will involve making a contribution to an ongoing study. Specific opportunities will depend on the status of studies at the time of the placement, but examples include performing a review of literature evidence or clinical protocols of particular relevance to the study. Some projects may involve sequential trainees taking over where their predecessor left off on a project. Where appropriate, you will be encouraged to write up your research project for publication. Teaching skills In order to begin to develop your teaching skills, you will take part in the teaching of behavioural sciences to first year undergraduate medical students. This will primarily involve taking part in the facilitation of small group teaching sessions. You will have clear guidance concerning the teaching materials and your role, and will be supervised during the process. For further support, you may also be paired with a more senior psychiatric trainee. There will be further opportunities to develop teaching skills during the clinical component of your placement, as outline below. Clinical component This will be in vascular surgery and diabetes, and supervised by Professor Scott and Professor Grant. It will cover the clinical and generic foundation competencies and will be closely linked to the academic component. There will be F2-level clinical feedback, appraisal and assessment, as documented in the Foundation Curriculum (www.mmc.nhs.uk). Academic mentorship If you wish to continue into specialist training in academic vascular surgery/medicine, we can facilitate academic mentorship. This is coordinated by Professor DJA Scott and Professor Grant. Applicants are welcome to contact Professor Scott and Professor Grant for more information about this placement. (d.j.a.scott@leeds.ac.uk, p.j.grant@leeds.ac.uk). D:\681453107.doc APPENDIX Contact address LIGHT Laboratories Clarendon Way University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9JT Tel: 0113 343 7721 The Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics (LIGHT) is the first biomedical facility in the University of Leeds. The research mission of LIGHT is to perform internationally competitive translational research into complex diseases (cardiovascular illness, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer) and to improve the delivery of patient care The Institute comprises the Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Medical Physics, groups from Biological Sciences and a research grouping on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research including: Molecular Vascular Medicine, the British Heart Foundation Heart Research Centre and the Cardiovascular Research Institute at Leeds (CRISTAL). LIGHT ultimately aims to conduct novel scientific research that has both patient and public health benefit. Research is carried out using core skills in genomics, proteomics, cell biology, molecular pharmacology, epidemiology, biostatistics, bioinformatics, clinical medicine and imaging. The multidisciplinary approach has a foundation in the basic understanding of normal and abnormal cell function at the molecular and cellular level. Mechanistic research thus provides an understanding of key events in the disease process which can be translated into biomarkers for application either in population or clinical-based studies. At the population level novel biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility and disease can be incorporated into aetiologic studies and provide new opportunities to evaluate public health intervention strategies. At the clinical level novel biomarkers and imaging technology may improve diagnosis and prognosis whilst advances in understanding molecular mechanisms also provides new targets for research into more effective therapies; in collaboration with external partners, the Institute is interested in developing new pharmaceutical agents for the management and prevention of complex diseases. D:\681453107.doc The LIGHT Laboratories Building Examples of current research topics include the study of the underlying pathology of Alzheimers disease; genetic, lifestyle and environmental risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease; genetic and environmental determinants of fibrin structure/function in relation to diabetes and cardiovascular disease; the genetic basis of premature coronary artery disease and magnetic resonance imaging to improve diagnosis and management of ischaemic heart disease; the cellular and molecular aetiology of infertility. Many of these projects are part of the cross-cutting research themes that build upon the core skills of the constituent groups within LIGHT (see the Research page). Overall therefore LIGHT conducts basic and applied research that will alleviate morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases. It does this through provision of an improved scientific rationale for both prevention strategies in populations and improved treatment and disease management in the clinic. This research activity is underpinned by a number of important infrastructural developments. The impressive new LIGHT Laboratories are a £10m SRIF funded initiative, which sit at the core of the Institute. Opened in October 2004, the building contains a mixture of clinicians and basic scientists from the Faculties of Medicine and Health and Biological Sciences working in collaboration. The LIGHT Laboratories are situated next to the Medical School, adjacent to the Leeds General Infirmary and opposite the Faculty of Biological Sciences, providing a major opportunity for cross-Faculty collaboration. Further infrastructure funding has provided state-of-the-art equipment, including a Microarray Facility, which is run under a service provision arrangement (for further details click here), a proteomics suite which has allowed participation in the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) clinical proteomics initiative and an MRI facility. The Institute also has access to a number of national and regional disease registers of cancer, diabetes and paediatric intensive care admissions, which facilitate clinical and population-based research. In addition, LIGHT is involved in some large population studies including the UK Women's Cohort D:\681453107.doc Study, a genetic study of families with early heart disease and the newly launched Born in Bradford mother-child birth cohort. http://www.borninbradford.nhs.uk/ LIGHT is also the focus for a number of broader collaborative ventures across the University. For example, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Obesity, Nutrition and Health (ICON-Health) is led from within LIGHT and the Institute is a collaborative partner in the Centre for Bioinformatics, in the Faculty of Mathematics. LIGHT also leads the Leeds Environmental Health Network (LEHnet) that advises the UK Environment Agency and encompasses members from civil engineering, geography, the Environment Centre as well as LIGHT. Academic Staff; Vascular Molecular Medicine. Name Phone Title ABBAS, Afroze 37708 Dr medaa@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk ADAMSON, Penny 37741 Dr medpja@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk AJJAN, Ramzi 37475 Dr r.ajjan@leeds.ac.uk ARIENS, Robert 37734 Dr r.a.s.ariens@leeds.ac.uk BAILEY, Kristian 37708 - medkb@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk BALDO, Omer 37708 Dr medob@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk BALMFORTH, Tony 37767 Dr a.j.balmforth@leeds.ac.uk BOOTHBY, May 37709 Mrs m.boothby@leeds.ac.uk BROWN, Jane 37709 Mrs j.m.y.brown@leeds.ac.uk CARTER, Angela 37765 Dr medamca@leeds.ac.uk CORDELL, Paul 37742 Dr p.a.cordell@leeds.ac.uk FEELY Morgan 37760 Dr m.p.feely@leeds.ac.uk FUTERS, Simon 37744 Dr t.s.futers@leeds.ac.uk GRANT, Peter 37721 Prof p.j.grant@leeds.ac.uk HOUSEMAN, 37721 Mrs n.j.houseman@leeds.ac.uk D:\681453107.doc Email Nikki JOHNSON, Anne 37702 Ms a.b.johnson@leeds.ac.uk KAIN, Kirti 37745 Dr k.kain@leeds.ac.uk KEARNEY, Mark 37764 Prof m.t.kearney@leeds.ac.uk McCORMACK, Lynn 37748 Dr l.mccormack@leeds.ac.uk MOSS Marcus 37708 Mr medmam@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk MWAMBINGU, Tom 37708 Dr medtm@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk PEASE, Richard 37740 Dr r.j.pease@leeds.ac.uk PHILIPPOU, Helen 37768 Dr h.philippou@leeds.ac.uk PHOENIX, Fladia 37708 Miss medfp@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk RENNIE, Libby 37702 Miss meder@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk RICE, Penny 37702 Ms p.j.rice@leeds.ac.uk SCALES, Andrea 37719 Mrs a.scales@leeds.ac.uk SCOTT Julian 37735 Prof d.j.a.scott@leeds.ac.uk SCOTT, Eleanor 37762 Dr e.m.scott@leeds.ac.uk SHEFTA, Jahan 37708 Ms medjss@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk SMITH, Kerrie 37708 Miss k.a.smith@leeds.ac.uk SOMANI, Riyaz 37708 Dr r.somani@leeds.ac.uk STANDEVEN, Kristina 37743 Dr k.f.standeven@leeds.ac.uk D:\681453107.doc STICKLAND, Max 37733 Mr m.stickland@leeds.ac.uk SUMMERS, Lucinda 37737 Dr l.k.m.summers@leeds.ac.uk SUNDERLAND, Richard 37708 Mr medrjs@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk SURR, Jessica 37708 Miss medjs@medphysics.leeds.ac.uk - Dr lipbun.tan@leedsth.nhs.uk VARDY, Emma 37708 Dr e.r.l.c.vardy@leeds.ac.uk WHEATCROFT, Stephen 37723 Dr s.b.wheatcroft@leeds.ac.uk TAN, Lip-Bun D:\681453107.doc