msc cancer research and molecular biomedicine , autumn

Newsletter

Faculty of Life Sciences

Issue 21, Autumn 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

Faculty News

“New facilities for our Optometrists”

Page 2

Triple success for FLS

Faculty Research

“A Dog’s Life”

Page 4

Public Engagement

“Community Open Day”

Page 6

Three young researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS) have just been awarded the prestigious David Phillips Fellowships by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). These fellowships are designed to support outstanding scientists in the early stage of their research careers.

This year, the BBSRC awarded just four of these fellowships, and three were given to FLS researchers: Dr David Bechtold, Dr Tim Brown and Dr Pawel Paszek. In making these awards, BBSRC sought to identify young researchers who could be expected to be among the leaders of their generation of bioscientists.

This success is a remarkable indicator of the quality of research being carried out in FLS, and a great reward for the three scientists concerned, who all work in different areas. We asked each of them to describe their research area:

Dr David Bechtold: “My research examines how our internal timing systems (circadian clocks) orchestrate metabolic processes across the body (such as glucose storage/release by the liver) to reinforce proper energy balance. This is of particular relevance given that modern 24-hour/day lifestyles which disrupt our bodies’ natural rhythms also increase the risk of obesity.”

Dr Tim Brown: “My principle aim is to understand the subconscious regulation of body systems by light. This includes delineating the brain pathways that set the ‘body-clock’ to environmental time, as well as those underlying more direct effects of light on hormone secretion and other aspects of physiology.”

Dr Pawel Paszek: “My aim is to understand how a set of molecular networks orchestrates

using interdisciplinary systems biology approach to gain a better picture of these non-intuitive processes. This is key to improved therapeutic

In addition to this exceptional success, two other academics from Life Sciences have been awarded major fellowships this year.

Dr Shane Herbert has received a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development fellowship to decipher the complex mechanisms that regulate new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis).

Dr Adam Hurlstone has been awarded a European Research Council fellowship to study the molecular and cellular biology of melanoma (skin cancer), with the aim of identifying new therapeutic approaches for its treatment.

Award winners Dr David BechtoldDr Tim Brown and Dr Pawel Paszek

Issue 20 - Autumn 2011 - Working Design.indd 1 11/18/2011 2:08:54 PM

MSc Cancer Research and Molecular Biomedicine

ENZYME PREVENTS FATAL HEART CONDITION ASSOCIATED WITH ATHLETESScientists have discovered an important enzyme that may prevent fatal cardiac disorders – the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.Cardiac hypertrophy is a disease of the heart muscle where a portion of the muscle is thickened. It is commonly due to high blood pressure (hypertension) and excessive exercises.

The condition is also associated with fatal cardiac disorders related to irregular heart beats (arrhythmias), leading to millions of deaths worldwide each year, and is perhaps the most well-known cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young sports people.The researchers used laboratory experiments and computer simulations to show that the enzyme MKK4 is involved in preventing arrhythmias. They believe it does this by

modifying another protein, connexin, which forms an electrical bridge between adjacent heart cells to ensure the conduction of electrical activity across the heart as an excitation wave, triggering synchronised contraction of the heart with a regular heartbeat rhythm.

The multidisciplinary team, writing in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, found that loss of the MKK4 protein disrupts the spatial distribution of connexin, resulting in irregular heart beats. As a consequence, the heart loses

disability or sudden cardiac death.

“Using experimental measurements together with computer models, we were able to simulate the electrical activity in the heart with disrupted electrical coupling between adjacent heart cells,” said Dr Xin Wang, from the Faculty.

“The information generated from this study will help us to identify whether the MKK4 enzyme could become a therapeutic target for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias in association with cardiac hypertrophy.”Co-author Professor Henggui Zhang, a biophysicist in Manchester’s School of Physics and Astronomy, added: “This research means it would be possible to identify the most important factor behind the sudden cardiac death associated with cardiac hypertrophy, which can affect people of any age with hypertension and also healthy well-trained athletes.”

www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/

research/researchgroups/

channelsandtransporters

Scientists have discovered why some people may be protected from harmful parasitic worms naturally while others cannot in what could lead to new therapies for up to one billion people worldwide.

Parasitic worms are a major cause of mortality and morbidity affecting up to a billion people, particularly in the Third World, as well as domestic pets and livestock across the globe.

Now, University of Manchester researchers

component of mucus found in the guts of humans and animals that is toxic to worms.“These parasitic worms live in the gut, which is protected by a thick layer of mucus,” explained Dr David Thornton, from the Faculty’s Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Matrix Research. “The mucus barrier is not just slime, but a complex mixture of salts, water and large ‘sugar-coated’ proteins called mucins that give mucus its gel–like properties.

“In order to be able to study these debilitating worm diseases, we have been using a mouse model in which we try to cure mice of the whipworm Trichuris muris. This worm is closely related to the human equivalent, Trichuris trichiura.“We previously found that mice that were able to expel this whipworm from the gut made more mucus. Importantly, the mucus from these mice contained the mucin, Muc5ac. This mucin is rarely present in the gut, but when it is, it alters the physical properties of the mucus gel.”

Co-lead on the study, Professor Richard Grencis, continued: “For this new research, we asked how important Muc5ac is during worm infection by using mice lacking the gene for Muc5ac. We found that mice genetically incapable of producing Muc5ac were unable to expel the worms, despite having a strong immune response against these parasites. This resulted in long-term infections.

“Furthermore, we discovered the reason for the importance of Muc5ac is that it is ‘toxic’ for the worms and damages their health.”The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine and featured in Nature’s ‘research highlights’ today (Thursday), found that Muc5ac is also

the gut of other types of worm that cause problems in humans. These include the hookworm, and the spiral threadworm. Together, these worms cause mortality and morbidity in up to one billion people across the globe.

Dr Sumaira Hasnain, the lead experimentalist

we have discovered that a single component of the mucus barrier, the Muc5ac mucin, is essential for worm expulsion. Our research may help to identify who is and who isn’t susceptible to parasitic worms, and it may eventually lead to new treatments for people with chronic worm infections.”

www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/

research/researchgroups/

immunologyandmolecularmicrobiology

A section of an intestine infected with whipworm, one of the commonest types of roundworm infection worldwide.

WORM DISCOVERY COULD HELP ONE BILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE

First year Zoology students in Dr Qing-Jun Meng’s tutorial group spent a Saturday explaining to visitors to Manchester Museum about the decline in the bee population. The students sent in this report:

“Many people are unaware that there has been a 60% collapse of the UK bumblebee population since 1970, with three of our 25 species already extinct. The aim of the day was to let the public know more about the bees in their garden and how they can help conserve the 22 species left in the UK.

Bees are the most common and most economically important pollinators, with the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations estimating that up to 90% of food worldwide is pollinated by bees. A lot of the visitors to our stall were shocked to hear that many of our favourite foods like strawberries and tomatoes would be harder to grow without bees.

We wanted people to leave knowing how to help. We demonstrated how to make a simple bee nest from the bits and bobs people have around the garden; many were

nest material, stones and slate providing a waterproof entrance for the bee is all it takes to provide a home for a colony. Overall the day was a great success – and great fun!”

www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/research/

researchgroups/neurosciences

BEE CONSERVATION AT THE MANCHESTER MUSEUM

Faculty Activities

6

Scientists have succeeded in purifying a protein found in bacteria that could reveal new drug targets for inherited breast and ovarian cancers as well as other cancers linked to DNA repair faults. The study is published in the journal Nature.

The team, based at The University of Manchester’s Paterson Institute for Cancer Research and the Manchester Interdiscipli-nary Biocentre, are the first to decipher the structure of a protein called PARG – which plays an important role in DNA repair and acts in the same pathway as PARP.

PARP inhibitors have been show-ing great promise in clinical trials for patients with breast, ovarian and prostate cancers caused by mutations in genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2. They work by block-ing the action of PARP – a protein that chemically tags areas of DNA damage to highlight them to the cell’s DNA repair machinery.

PARG removes these chemical tags after the DNA damage has been repaired. So the research-ers believe that, similar to PARP inhibitors, drugs designed to block the action of PARG could be

effective in treating cancer.Lead author Dr Ivan Ahel, based at the Can-cer Research UK-funded Paterson Institute, said: “For decades scientists have wanted to find out the structure of PARG, but its large size makes it very hard to produce in the lab. By studying a smaller version of PARG found in bacteria, we’ve been able to create a ‘3D map’ that researchers can use to understand more about how PARG works. The next step will be to investigate whether drugs that block its activity might be an effective way of treating cancers driven by

faults in DNA repair genes.”

Co-author Professor David Leys, who is based in the Faculty of Life Sciences, said: “Obtaining the crystal structure of PARG is a first and key step to guide and illumi-nate future drug-design efforts aimed at treating certain cancers. Knowing what this enzyme looks like, and having a good idea of how it operates, makes designing such drugs less of a shot in the dark.”

Dr Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, added: “This discovery shows that bacteria and humans share similarities in the cellular machinery they use to repair damaged DNA. Importantly, knowing the structure of PARG in bacteria could help research-ers design targeted treatments that are also effective in cancer patients. We hope this will lead to further treatment options for patients with a range of cancers in the future.”

Read more about Prof. David Leys:

www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/people/profile/?alias=leysd

Bacteria shed light on new drug targets for inherited cancers

3130

www.manchester.ac.uk/lifesciences

course detailsMedical Biochemistry

Medical Biochemistry withIndustrial/Professional Experience

These courses are designed for biochemists who areconsidering a career in research into the biochemicalbasis of disease and therapeutic medicine.

Medical biochemistry addresses the functioning ofnormal and diseased organisms from a biochemicalpoint of view. Courses will provide you with afundamental grounding in the principles ofbiochemistry, such as protein structure and function.As you progress, there will be optional course unitsthat show you how biochemistry allows us tounderstand and treat diseases. Subject areas includethe molecular biology of cancer, cell cycle control andgenetic diseases.

This area is very promising in terms of careerdevelopment, because many pharmaceutical andhealthcare companies require well-trained medicalbiochemists. Graduates become key employees in theefforts of such companies to develop new drugstargeted against specific enzymes, hormonereceptors, or other biologically important molecules.

Year 1

You will gain a broad introduction to the life sciences,covering key concepts including genetics,biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology andmolecular biology. In addition, you will study topics inchemistry that are relevant to biology. This year alsohelps you hone the essential data-handling andlaboratory skills required by all life scientists.

Microbiology

Microbiology withIndustrial/Professional Experience

Microbiology with a Modern Language

Microbiology involves studying the biology ofmicroorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi andprotozoa.

One of the major aims of our degree is to explain thebiological basis of bacterial, viral, fungal andprotozoan diseases, with strong emphasis on themolecular biology of infection processes. The degreealso examines how microbes can be useful to usthrough their role in the carbon and nitrogen cyclesand in food production.

Microbiologists are needed to do the researchrequired for the future battle against diseasesworldwide and in order to exploit microbes in theproduction of food. These are some of the many newemployment opportunities in the rapidly expandingfield of microbiology, a subject that is vitally importantto our health and economic welfare.

Year 1

You will gain a broad introduction to the life sciences,covering key concepts including genetics, biochemistry,microbiology, biodiversity and molecular biology. Thisyear also helps you hone the essential data-handlingand laboratory skills required by all life scientists.

Year 2

You will begin to specialise, studying biochemistry inmore depth. Topics currently include metabolism, thechemical structure and function of importantbiomolecules including proteins, and the cellularmechanisms underlying common human diseases. Youcan choose from optional units ranging fromimmunology to drug development. During the ResearchSkills unit, you have the opportunity to carry outtechniques that are widely used in current life scienceresearch, including spectrophotometry, electrophoresisand Western blotting.

Final year

You will have a wide choice of biomedical science andbiochemistry-based topics to choose from in your finalyear. You will study the biochemical basis of diseasessuch as diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, fibrosis andosteoporosis and can choose optional units thatcurrently include the molecular biology of cancer andstem cells. The highlight of the year is yourindependent in-depth research project, which couldtake place in the labs of one of our leading medicalbiochemistry researchers.

Year 2

You will begin to specialise, undertaking more in-depth study of bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses,including their structure and function and how theycan cause disease. You will learn how the bodyresponds to pathogenic microbes as well as otheraspects of immunology such as autoimmune disease.During the Research Skills unit, you have theopportunity to carry out techniques that are widelyused in current microbiology research, includingaseptic technique, preparation of growth media andthe use of commercial biochemical test kits.

Final year

Final-year topics are continually updated and replacedto ensure they are up-to-date with latest bioscienceresearch. Current units include the bacterial infectionsof man and cutting-edge topics and techniques inmicrobiology. The highlight of the year is yourindependent in-depth research project, which couldtake place in the labs of one of our leadingmicrobiology researchers.

Ben GrimshawMedical Biochemistry

“I chose to do Medical Biochemistry because Iknew I didn't want to do Medicine, but I wantedto do a degree that looked at the finer details ofdisease and what goes on at the cellular level. Iplan to become a clinical scientist within theNHS, working behind the scenes in hospitals andidentifying the link between the patient andtheir illness.”

Cate WinstanleyMicrobiology

“I changed courses to Microbiology at the startof my second year and made the perfect choice.The university's facilities are excellent and theenthusiasm and support from staff are second-to-none. I am starting my lab research projectthis year and I am really looking forward toworking with some top researchers in my field.”

2

Faculty News

European grant for skin cancer researchLife Sciences researchers investigating skin cancer have been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) grant worth €1.5 million.

Dr Adam Hurlstone and his team

study deadly melanoma.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that is caused by excessive ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight that transform skin cells from helpful cells that protect our skin, known as melanocytes, into malignant cells.

The Hurlstone laboratory is hoping

of transformation more easily and rapidly, and to develop therapies designed to prevent, delay or even reverse this change in skin cells.

The Hurlstone laboratory uses the

melanocytes in their stripes, are simple to keep, observe, genetically modify and can develop melanoma.

Dr Hurlstone was among only a handful of applicants from the UK to succeed with his application to the ERC under their ‘Starter Grant’ scheme. The award will support research efforts in his laboratory for

The University of Manchester has secured two project grants worth a total of £1.6 million from the Bioprocessing Research Industry Club (BRIC), which was set up by the Research Councils and industry.

Dr Robin Curtis, Professor Jeremy Derrick, Dr Jim Warwicker and Professor Alan Dickson have received funding for a multidisciplinary project to improve the production of proteins (biopharmaceuticals) that are used as medicines.

The study — a collaboration between the Faculty of Life Sciences and the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science — is entitled, ‘Understanding and predicting aggregation in biopharmaceuticals — an integrated approach towards improvement in bioprocess yields.’

The second BRIC project grant has been awarded to Professor Hans Westerhoff, Professor Roy Goodacre and Professor Alan Dickson to investigate the predictability of biopharmaceutical protein production. The research will be carried out in collaboration with the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, the School of Chemistry and the Faculty.

In addition, two research groups at the University have been awarded BRIC PhD studentships: ‘Protein burden in overproduction’ (Westerhoff, Dickson, Snoep, Warwicker) with industrial partners

‘Controlling liquid-liquid phase separation in antibody formulation’ (Warwicker, Curtis) with Medimmune.

“These grants and studentships build on our previous BRIC funding successes and

and academic research programmes in bioprocessing co-ordinated through the activities of the University’s Centre of Excellence in Biopharmaceuticals,” said Professor Dickson.

BRIC was established in 2005 by the BBSRC, EPSRC, bioProcessUK and a consortium of industrial partners to address the research challenges in bioprocessing.

£1.6m grant success for bioprocessing research

Congratulations to Daniel Henderson who has won the British Pharmacology Society (BPS) Undergraduate Award. Daniel, an intercalating medical student, won the prize for the research he carried out as part of his Pharmacology lab project in Wythenshawe Hospital.

This award not only highlights Daniel’s

of collaboration between the Faculty and the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences.

Daniel said, “I really enjoyed intercalating and although I found it challenging, winning the award really makes you appreciate that the work was worth it. It is also a testament to the hard work, patience and enthusiasm of my supervisors Richard Prince, Sue Astley and Caroline Boggis”.

As part of his prize Daniel will attend the winter BPS conference and has also been asked to produce a poster of his work. “I'm really looking forward to the winter conference. Being able to go and meet the people at the forefront of British/international pharmacology will be a huge privilege,” he said.

Student wins prestigious prize

Dr Robin Curtis, Professor Jeremy Derrick, Dr Jim Warwicker, Professor Hans

Westerhoff and Professor Alan Dickson


Website

We know you might need some more detailed information before deciding on your course so we have set up a dedicated website for each course.The website includes:

• Student comments• Career destinations of graduates• Modules • Projects

www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/masterscourses

2

Faculty News


Dr Adam Hurlstone and his team in the Faculty use zebrafish – small

tropical fish often kept as pets – to



The Hurlstone laboratory is hoping to find ways to detect this process


The Hurlstone laboratory uses the zebrafish to study this process

in detail since the fish have


Dr Hurlstone was among only a handful of applicants from the UK to succeed with his application to the ERC under their ‘Starter Grant’ scheme. The award will support research efforts in his laboratory for the next five years.





In addition, two research groups at the University have been awarded BRIC PhD studentships: ‘Protein burden in overproduction’ (Westerhoff, Dickson, Snoep, Warwicker) with industrial partners at Fujifilm Diosynth Technologies;; and


“These grants and studentships build on our previous BRIC funding successes and reflect the emergence of integrated industrial





This award not only highlights Daniel’s hard work and ability, but also the benefits








5

Scientists at The University of Manchester have discovered a way of speeding up the creation of perfect drug combinations, which could help patients recovering from critical health problems such as stroke, heart attacks and cancer. The group, lead by Professor Douglas Kell, used a new technique that combines two things you would not normally expect to see together: robots and evolution.

Using a computer program that mimics Darwinian evolution, the team reduced the number of drug combinations that needed to be tested from 9 billion to 550. A semi-automated robot enabled 50 drug combinations to be tested at a time. The ‘fittest’ or most effective

combinations of drugs made it into the next generation where they were recombined and the process started again.

The study, published in Nature Chemical Biology, concentrated on finding a drug combination to reduce

the inflammation and damage caused

by stroke. However, the researchers believe the process they used can be applied to all drugs and for a huge variety of diseases – not necessarily

related to inflammation.

Professor Kell said: “Most diseases have complex causes. This makes their analysis a problem of systems biology, and to find novel therapies multiple

targets need to be attacked at once.

“We have devised a strategy, based on Darwinian evolution, to make this considerably easier. Although our immediate interest is inflammation

and conditions such as stroke, our approach is universal and is thus applicable to all complex diseases.”

The project will also investigate the history of stray and ‘dangerous’ dogs, as well as the use of dogs in the laboratory for health and

Matthew Cobb, Professor of Zoology in the Faculty of Life Sciences and a co-investigator on the project, added: “Veterinary medicine and animal health has been poorly served by researchers despite the subject being given

human-dog relations have been increasingly

called ‘patients’ and vets’ records list them

Alzheimer's disease and cold sores might seem to be two very different problems. However, Faculty scientists believe that they may be linked and that current antiviral drugs could prove to be effective in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

A team of Manchester scientists, led by Professor Ruth Itzhaki, have shown that the cold sore virus (herpes simplex virus type1), when present in the brains of individuals with a specific genetic susceptibility, can

lead to an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

The team observed that the herpes virus causes cells to overproduce a number of proteins. These proteins, when found in high concentration, can stick together, forming structures known as plaques and tangles. Scientists believe that these 'sticky' proteins, and the plaques and tangles they form, play an important role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. The group has recently published promising findings showing that

certain antiviral treatments can reduce production of these dangerous proteins. This work, carried out with Dr Matthew Wozniak in the Faculty of Life Sciences, can be found in the open access journal PLoS One.

Professor Itzhaki, who has been studying Alzheimer's and the role viruses play in its progression for over 20 years, is encouraged by these results. She hopes that following this success, further funding will be obtained to carry the work forward to the next stage – further laboratory testing of possible

treatments, and progression to clinical trials. The impact of this research has already been recognised by Manchester City Council and the international organisation, 'the Alzheimer's Research Forum'. Both have recently presented Professor Itzhaki with awards recognising her outstanding work and contribution to the field.

Hope for antiviral treatment for Alzheimer's Manchester’s ‘first step’ to perfect drug combinations

While the early bird might catch the worm, it's the quick bird that lands the ladies, according to new research into the running performance of an Arctic cousin of the grouse.

Scientists studying rock ptarmigan on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard discovered a large difference in the running capabilities between the sexes, with the larger males able to run more efficiently

and up to 50% faster than females.

The team suggested that faster, efficient

male birds are more successful at breeding, being able to defend larger territories against rivals, indicating that physiology,

and not just physical appearance, plays a role in sexual selection.

“Little is known about the role physiology – the internal biological functions of living

organisms – plays in sexual selection in

birds and other animals,” said Dr Jonathan Codd, who led the study in the Faculty of Life Sciences.

The research group say their findings are

important for two reasons. Some bird species, like some other animal species, exhibit obvious physical differences between the sexes. For instance, males, as well as females, can be many times larger than the opposite gender. Despite these

differences, scientists have rarely looked at their physiological consequences.

Secondly, the physical appearance of male and female birds – and other animals

– is well documented as playing a role

in sexual selection. Male birds are often more colourful than their drab female counterparts and it is known that this plays an important role in the success of males finding mates. This study shows that

physiological attributes may also play a role in the breeding success of male birds, with females choosing mates that are faster and able to defend larger territories for longer.

The burly bird catches the girl


Find out more about your courseFacebook

We have set up a Facebook group for applicants who have received an offer to come and do a Masters course at the Faculty of Life Sciences.

www.facebook.com/groups/228455363889441/

Twitter

Keep up to date with what’s going on in the Faculty of Life Sciences and around Manchester by following us on Twitter

http://twitter.com/#!/LSNewsfeed

2

Faculty News


Dr Adam Hurlstone and his team



The Hurlstone laboratory is hoping


The Hurlstone laboratory uses the


Dr Hurlstone was among only a handful of applicants from the UK to succeed with his application to the ERC under their ‘Starter Grant’ scheme. The award will support research efforts in his laboratory for





In addition, two research groups at the University have been awarded BRIC PhD studentships: ‘Protein burden in overproduction’ (Westerhoff, Dickson, Snoep, Warwicker) with industrial partners


“These grants and studentships build on our previous BRIC funding successes and





This award not only highlights Daniel’s








RESEARCH SKILLS SUMMER SCHOOL

Who is the course for?This course is for you if you are planning to do a research-focused Masters course or a PhD in any area of Biotechnology or Biomedicine but have had little hands on laboratory experience. Through this course you will acquire the skills which will enable you to bridge the gap between undergraduate studies and postgraduate research.

What will you learn?Spend four weeks at the University of Manchester undertaking lab experiments and workshops under the supervision of experienced academic staff. You will gain intensive ‘hands on’ laboratory experience of core techniques in molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, genetics and organismal biology, as well as cutting edge techniques in genomics and proteomics. In addition you will work closely with a small cohort of fellow students to gain transferable skills in oral and written presentation and teamwork.

When does the course run?From 13 August 2012 to 7 September 2012.

Fees£2730 (£2330 without accommodation)

What else is offered?We provide accommodation (if required) within easy walking distance of the Faculty of Life Sciences buildings and facilities and a social programme which will give you the chance to explore our campus and the exciting city of Manchester, to ensure you are ready to make the most of student life whilst you are studying here!

Course contentTechniques:

Molecular cloning (PCR, gel electrophoresis, ligation, plasmid preparation, restriction enzymes, sequencing);

chromatography, mass spectroscopy;

microscopy, GFP fusion proteins); Gene expression and genetic analysis (use of mutants, quantitative RT-PCR, reporter genes, in situ hybridisation).

Lab skills: Lab calculations, solution preparation, experimental design and use of controls.

Data analysis:Literature searching, bioinformatic databases, statistical analysis, report writing, data presentation.

Find out more:www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/masterscourses/courses/researchskillssummerschool/

Develop the research skills that will enable you to make the most out of your Masters or PhD.

Develop the team skills required to work in a research team.

Gain a network of friends and colleagues at the University.

Explore the university and the city of Manchester.

“I think the most important “skill” I developed through the course was my

lab is much more fun when you actually understand what you are doing!”

“All the supervisors were very engaged

“What I enjoyed most about the Summer School was making new friends and

msc cancer research and molecular biomedicine , autumn

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