Biology News Spring 2009

Please download the current Biology Newsletter (PDF, file size: 197.79KB) here.

We have developed a number of microbiology based short courses covering a diversity of topics.  Understanding Antibiotic Resistance and Susceptibility Testing was delivered as a one day course (22 April, 2009), Clinical Mycology comprises four half day sessions (20 and 27 May and 3 and 10 June) and the Parasitic Infections of the Gastro-intestinal Tract comprised two half day sessions (24 June and 1 July).  All courses included both lectures and practical workshops.  Delegates have attended the courses for a variety of reasons including CPD, broadening their expertise, updating their skills and to provide an underpinning of knowledge for their specialist portfolios.  Delegates were from both NHS and non-NHS laboratories throughout Cheshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands.

Staff from Biological Sciences delivered the courses supplemented by external specialist staff and contributions from institutions including London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Mycology Reference Laboratory, Bristol, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals, NHS Trust, Mast Diagnostics and bioMérieux.  

Feedback was positive with several delegates commenting that the quality of the provision was excellent but delivered in a relaxed atmosphere with plenty of opportunity to discuss and share information with staff from other labs. 

Specific comments included “lectures were excellent – very informative”, “practical work included useful advice for identification techniques”, “re-enforced understanding and confidence in parasitic cyst identification”,  “provided a much better understanding of ESBLs and diagnostic techniques available”, “you can learn more in one afternoon on this course than you can in a year in the lab!!”

We plan to offer the courses again and to develop courses in other topics such as blood borne viruses and anaerobic bacteria.  Please contact Sara Buckley (email s.l.buckley@staffs.ac.uk) for more information.   

In the week commencing 1st June 2009 the Faculty of Sciences put on activities and displays in the Potteries shopping centre shop in Hanley.
 
Kevin Reiling and Sara Buckley supervised a group of Biological Sciences students on work placement to develop displays and activities for use in the shop.  They developed a range of activities and displays and engaged the public in a microscopy quiz 'Under the Microscope' where people had to match objects with images of how they appear under the microscope.

Displays of gel electrophoresis were accompanied by explanations of how DNA analysis can be used in a variety of ways from helping solve wildlife crime to developing disease cures.  Members of the public were also invited to answer a few questions on their perceptions of science, role of scientists in society and importance of science. 
 
Approximately 150 -200 people were spoken to in the 4 four days in the shop. Over 120 people agreed to complete the questionnaire and typical responses indicated that local people felt science to be very important "Without it where would we be?" 

Congratulations to Cassie!

For the second year running a student from Biological Sciences has been succcesful in submitting and having published a paper based on their final year project in the Oxford University Press journal Bioscience Horizons. Cassie Gregson graduated in 2008 and was nominated to submit to the journal by the department. Cassie's paper was reviewed and chosen for publication in this years volume of the Journal and can be found at: http://biohorizons.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/2/2/134.

The journal was launched in 2008 as a means for final year students to submit their final year projects for publication as a scientific paper. Successful students have a citable piece of research to start them on their postgraduate career.
Cassie was a part-time student who did her research whilst working full-time, at AstraZeneca in bioinformatics research, and graduated with a first class Honours degree in Biomedical Sciences. She also received the best undergraduate Biology dissertation prize. She still works for the same company where she hopes to develop her career further within the bioinformatics field. 
  
This is the second student of Sue Bird we have had published in this journal so we have a presence in both volumes 1 and 2. 

"You send teachers and technicians to these courses - brilliant, genius!" 
 
This was the enthusiastic feedback from one teacher who visited the Faculty of Sciences stand at the ASE conference exhibition which ran from 8-10 Jan 2009.  School teachers and technicians could find out about the activities and courses that the Faculty offers.  Sue Bird ran a workshop on Genetic timelines that was well attended and provided a taster for the Genomic Advances workshop (DOC, file size: 82.5KB) run in collaboration with the West Midlands Science Learning Centre on 3rd July 2009.
 
We showcased the range of postgraduate awards offered in areas such as Psychology, Environment & Sustainability, Molecular Biology and Forensic Science. These awards are available by distance learning making them ideal for continuous professional development.  We also discussed the short CPD courses that we run for teachers and technicians as well as other services such as crime scene simulations in our scene of crime house.

1st and 2nd of June a course called "Molecular Techniques: A practical approach to PCR and Real Time PCR as Diagnostic Tools" was run in Biological Sciences by Dr Harry Mountain, Denise Figgins, Gail Mountain, Mishele Barrigas from Biological Sciences and Drs Jane Haddlington and Helen Bottomley from Applied Biosytems, who also kindly loaned us some of the equipment. Many thanks to Sarah Buckley and Audra Jones for advertising, marketing, enrolment and general organisation. The course attracted 8 delegates from around academic and medical organisations in the the UK in addition to two MSc students, one from Kenya and one form Guatamala.
The feedback from the group was excellent.

Foundation Degree in Biomedical Science – the Employer Perspective

The Associate Practitioner role is a new and very important role in pathology. Many of our Associate Practitioners have worked in the laboratory as Medical Laboratory Assistants prior to becoming an Associate Practitioner so they have laboratory experience but often limited formal qualifications. Working closely with Staffordshire University to develop the curriculum means that the foundation degree offers exactly what the students and the workplace needs. The strong focus on Work Based Learning leads to students gaining credit for structured evidence collected whilst in the laboratory.
The students studying for the University Certificate are kept in a small group with modules specifically aimed at improving their learning skills. This gives the students confidence in their ability and the confidence to give feedback on the course content. In the second and third years the students spend some time with students on the BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science course which helps both the full time students and those on the foundation degree as they can share knowledge and the foundation degree students can pass on their laboratory experience.
Regular communication between Staffordshire University and the University Hospital of North Staffordshire provides feedback on the student’s progress and any issues raised by laboratory or student have been promptly and professionally dealt with by the University. Laboratory based mentors spend time each week with the students to discuss current modules and any issues. There has been a very positive impact on the whole laboratory since the introduction of the foundation degree for the Associate Practitioner.

Katie Berger
Quality Manager, Training Officer and Health & Safety Co-ordinator
Pathology Directorate.
University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

Dave Skingsley will be leading Insect walks again this year at:

May/June 2009
 
Berryhill for Friends of Berryhill,
Park Hall Country Park and Consal Wood Country Park for Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Dr Angela Priestman has just completed her first year of research characterising different populations of the screwworm fly Cochliomyia hominivorax. This fly is a significant pest species of the new world tropics but has been introduced into the old world via the trade in animals. The fly lays its eggs in open wounds on cattle (for example) and the resulting larvae consume the tissues causing much harm. Dr Priestman’s work, which is funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) aims to compare wild populations of new world screwworm fly with those bred in fly factories and sterilised before release into the wild. Sterilised release male flies should mate normally with wild female flies and, of course, no offspring are produced. This has the effect of reducing fly numbers in a given locality.

The first year of Dr Priestman's studies have focused on establishing the technique, with the assistance of Pete Martin (Experimental Officer), in the Analytical Suite of the Faculty of Sciences. Angela and Pete have submitted their progress report and await confirmation of the second year of funding.