Archive: December 30, 2021

Controlling the Chaos

By LifETIME CDT Student: Ibrahim Erbay (NUI Galway) Inflammation is necessary chaos for survival. Although inflammatory responses provide powerful tools for protection against infectious diseases, the balance between tolerance and rejection is highly important. As this balance breaks, it becomes a driving force for many diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmunity. Among which inflammatory bowel

3D PODS® skin models: Why they really matter

By LifETIME CDT Student: Aleksandar Atanasov (University of Birmingham) Despite the sizeable ethical burden, animal testing is still an essential part of drug development. Trials in living systems ensure therapeutics’ efficacy and, most importantly, the safety of any clinical trials with patients that follow. As a result, despite conscientious efforts across all areas of research, 3.4 million experimental

Sustainability within a laboratory; How to establish your own Eco-Group

The average laboratory uses around five times as much energy as a regular office building, this not only means higher utility bills but also a higher cost to our environment. As society becomes more aware of the negative impact that research can have on our planet, groups like III Eco-Group at the University of Glasgow

Dear Men, Attention Please!!

By LifETIME CDT Student: Sugunapriyadharshini Sundararaman (NUI Galway) Prostate cancer (PCa) is among the common cancers in men and its incident rate is rising globally. In this blog, we review the causes, symptoms, treatment options, and current research highlights for prostate cancer. What are the major risk factors for developing prostate cancer? Firstly, a man’s

Curing Cancer with Gels

By LifETIME CDT Student: W. Sebastian Doherty-Boyd (University of Glasgow)   During my PhD I will investigate the use of synthetic gels as a platform to grow and experiment on blood stem cells. The aim is to better understand the bone marrow (BM) niche where these cells reside, and search for causes and treatments of

Birmingham cohort achieves awards for sustainability

By lifETIME CDT Administrator: Emma Lardner (University of Birmingham)   The Healthcare Technologies Institute at the University of Birmingham has received recognition for sustainable practices from the 2021 NUS Green Impact Awards; a United Nations award-winning programme designed to support environmentally and socially sustainable practice within organisations. The team was led by Emma Lardner, Operations Manager