August 2012 - Imperial College Faculty of Medicine

The NHLI Newsletter will normally be circulated to all NHLI on the last Friday of eachmonth. We welcome your contributions and request that any information you wish toinclude is provided by the Monday prior to distribution.If you have any comments, suggestions or other information, please contact RuthO’Donnell.In this month’s newsletter:Letter from the Head of InstituteNHLI in the NewsNHLI Science SnapshotAwards and PrizesUpcoming Meetings, Events and LecturesRegular MeetingsOtherSubscriptionsLetter from the Head of InstituteAs the new academic session approaches and the first year in my role as Head ofInstitute comes to an end, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect upon thispast year and celebrate some of the outstanding achievements of our colleaguesover this period. Collectively, NHLI continues to be successful and I delight inreading your monthly achievements individually. To note, the following academicshave been recognised for their considerable accomplishments. Peter Barnes waselected a Master Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and PresidentElect of the European Respiratory Society; Duncan Geddes was awarded theCommander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to medical research, charityand education and Margaret Hodson was awarded the Order of the British Empire(OBE) for her services to respiratory medicine. Jaspal Kooner and Ajit Lalvani wereelected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences and finally Tim Williams waselected as Fellow of the Royal Society.Looking to coming year, I am filled with anticipation regarding the challenges thatremain to be undertaken and the great potential to be fulfilled - it promises to beanother exciting year. NHLI continues with preparations for the Research ExerciseFramework (REF), which has a census date of 31 October 2013, with a push to

collate the very strongest publications of our academics in anticipation of thisassessment and assemble the statements to demonstrate how our research has hadsuch significant and wide impact.More immediately, we have a number of esteemed academics presenting their workto the Institute in the next few months. The Annual Cardiovascular Lecture onThursday 11 October 2012 sees Professor Silvia Priori presenting 'The molecularunderpinning of sudden death: from risk stratification to gene therapy'. The NHLIInaugural lecture series, in celebration of our new professorial appointments,resumes for the autumn with a lecture by Professor Mary Morrell on Wednesday 7November 2012, followed by Professor Terry Tetley on Tuesday 27 November 2012and Professor Anita Simonds on Wednesday 16 January 2013.Finally, our new NHLI Seminar Series launched over the summer with a presentationby Dr Alex Lyon continues into the new academic year with several seminars alreadyset in the diary. For further details of these and other lectures, please go to theUpcoming Meetings, Events and Lectures section of the newsletter.I look forward to the coming year and the continuing success of NHLI!With best wishes,Professor Kim FoxHead, National Heart & Lung InstituteNHLI in the News‘Early European TAVI registry data unveiled’ – News medical.nethttp://www.news-medical.net/news/20120830/Early-European-TAVI-registry-dataunveiled.aspx‘Kingston doctor spends spare time repairing children's heart defects’ – LocalGuardianhttp://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/local/kingstonnews/9892985.Doctor_gives_hope_to_young_heart_patients/‘The Royal Brompton Hospital, World Renowned Heart Disease Centre Now OffersAffordable Preventative Heart Screening Service’ – Webwirehttp://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=159538NHLI Science SnapshotAimed at junior researchers (e.g. postdocs to senior lecturers), this sectionsummaries current work. If you would like to submit a brief summary of yourresearch, please send a half page to Ruth O’Donnell.

Dr Mike Cox is a Research Associate in Molecular Genetics and Genomics withinthe section of Respiratory Sciences. He is part of the Mechanisms of Severe AcuteInfluenza Consortium (MOSAIC) investigating secondary bacterial infections in casesof pandemic flu. Mike is a recent recipient of an NHLI Foundation PostdoctoralTravel Award. Here, he tells us about his attendance at the ‘American ThoracicSociety (ATS) International Conference 2012’ in San Francisco that the awardenabled him to attend.Participating in large scientific conferences and participating in the Olympic Gameshave a number of things in common: enormous crowds of people (punctuated byoccasional, inexplicable emptiness), dense branding and that dreaded phenomenon‘The Wall’.At conferences The Wall is experienced roughly at mid-afternoon on the second day.You’ve arranged meetings with too many collaborators; you’ve over-highlighted theabstract book in too many different shades of neon; you’re still carrying the fullconference pack and have picked up yet more pamphlets from the trade exhibition.Athletes have to run through it. They have to push on, dig deep and grit their teeth.This is where conferences differ: it is now time to give up. Relax, only go tointeresting things, or new things, otherwise all is lost*.I am grateful to have received a Travel Award from the NHLI Foundation and usedthis to attend the American Thoracic Society meeting, this year in San Francisco,contributing a poster examining the lung microbiome in non-cystic fibrosisbronchiectasis. The ATS is the largest annual meeting for scientists and cliniciansinterested in the respiratory, critical care and sleep fields. I have to confess to hittingThe Wall at about the same time the Bay to Breakers race hit Castro. Embracing myown advice, I gave up and pottered about the meeting, finding only very interestingtalks to go to.The idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis poster discussion was great, and in general thereseems to have been strong representation from researchers and clinicians interestedin this disease, including those from the NHLI. There was another excellent sessiongiving an overview of the power of epigenetics and how DNA methylation impactsdisease processes and gene expression generally. A symposium on non-cysticfibrosis bronchiectasis had broad scope, combined with lots of useful detail aspeople working in this area strive to replicate some of the successful approachesused in cystic fibrosis management to a less well-defined, important disease.The particular highlight for me was a talk by Forest Rohwer of San Diego StateUniversity. He was literally a fish out of water at this meeting, being an expert inmicrobial, particularly viral, ecology of coral reefs. He makes use of next generationsequencing to sequence all the DNA and RNA from environmental samples, the aimbeing to find out exactly which microorganisms are present, and crucially, what theyare doing. Here, rather than talking about seawater samples and coral scrapings, hewas talking about the application of these techniques to sputum samples andexplanted lungs from cystic fibrosis patients.

Using these approaches he demonstrated that phage from these samples (virusesthat infect bacteria) encoded a wide range of functional genes implicated in bacterialpathogenicity, such as mucoidy and antibiotic resistance. In some respects this issurprising, in others not – there are around 10 nonillion (1031) viruses in the world,at least 100 million different species of them and most genetic diversity is viral.Coupling sequencing with mass spectroscopy, he demonstrated that 2,3butanediene in breath gas from CF subjects correlated to Pseudomonas aeruginosapresent in sputum. This compound is known to increase the growth rate of P.aeruginosa and moreover, Streptococci in the sample possessed a pathway forproduction of 2,3 butanediene, neatly linking these two different bacteria into thecycling of a compound that may have clinical relevance.This talk demonstrated one of the most important and enjoyable aspects of themeeting, that of interdisciplinarity and of its potential in translational research. Again,thanks to the NHLI Foundation for supporting my attendance.*Note that carbo-loading works to alleviate both athletic and conference Walls.Awards and PrizesMs Hannah Barrett – Awarded the Faculty of Medicine Agnes Cope Prize for Beststudent in Cardiovascular Sciences BSc 2011-12.Mr Alexander Beverly – Awarded the 2012 British Thoracic Society MedicalStudent Prize for his BSc lab project “Pro-fibrotic effects of multi-walled carbonnanotube exposure on primary human alveolar type II epithelial cells and fibroblasts”.Mr Sayed Al-Aidarous – Awarded the NHLI Prize for Outstanding performance inCardiovascular Sciences BSc 2011-12.Ms Amy Mallorie – Nominated for the Evelyn de Rothschild Best BSc Project Prize2011-12.Ms Isabel McLuskie – Awarded the Faculty of Medicine Alan J Stolow Prize for Beststudent in Respiratory Sciences BSc 2011-12.Ms Neda Hassan – Awarded the NHLI Prize for Outstanding performance inRespiratory Sciences BSc 2011-12.Mr David Smith – Nominated for the Evelyn de Rothschild Best BSc Project Prize2011-12.Upcoming Meetings, Events and Lectures

If you have any queries please email: imperialflowcourse@imperial.ac.ukNHLI Seminar Series – Dr Jill Johnson‘Pericytes: a new player in airway remodelling’Tuesday 25 September 2012, 12.00-1.30pm, G16, Sir Alexander Fleming Building,South Kensington CampusAll welcome but with registrations in advance with Ruth O’Donnell.NHLI Seminar Series – Dr Andrew ThorleyMonday 1 October 2012, 5.30-7.00pm, Seminar Room A, Guy Scadding Building,Royal Brompton CampusAll welcome but with registrations in advance with Ruth O’Donnell.Annual Cardiovascular Paul Wood Lecture'The molecular underpinning of sudden death: from risk stratification to gene therapy'presented by Professor Silvia Priori, Professor of Medicine, New York University,USA and Pavia, ItalyThursday 11 October 2012, 5.30pm, Paul Wood Lecture Theatre, Guy ScaddingBuilding, Royal Brompton CampusAll welcome but with registrations in advance with Ruth O’DonnellmRNA Reprogramming 101 Training CourseWednesday 17 October - Friday 19 October 2012 and Tuesday 23 October -Thursday 25 October 2012The Centre for Stem Cell Biology (CSCB), University of SheffieldFor further details email: training.courses@stemgent.comFor registrations email: c.herridge@sheffield.ac.uk1 st Global Women’s (GLOW) Research ConferenceThe aim of this conference is for academics and postgraduate students engaged inGlobal Maternal Health to share their work, build collaborations and hear updatesfrom prominent international speakers.Tuesday 23 October 2012, Carnatic House, LiverpoolFor further information please visithttp://www.liv.ac.uk/events/event.php?event_id=36849&event_day_id=52105Enquires should be directed to c.j.porter@liv.ac.ukAPSGB/HESI – Joint International Workshop‘Challenges for inhaled drug discovery and development: induced alveolarmacrophage responses’Tuesday 30 October - Wednesday 31 October 2012, GlaxoSmithKline Research &Development, StevenageFor further information, please contact Dr Raegan O’Lone: rolone@hesiglobal.org2012 Cardiac Physiome WorkshopTuesday 30 October - Friday 2 November 2012, San Diego, California, USAFor further details and registrations go to:http://www2.nbcr.net/wordpress2/cardiacphysiome/Metabolic & Endocrine Technology Network Symposium

‘Stem Cells & Metabolism’Wednesday 7 November 2012 (Postponed from Monday 24 September 2012),10am-6pm, NHLI Education Centre, Royal Brompton CampusThe course registration page can be found here.For further details email: ibmenetworks@imperial.ac.ukInaugural Lecture – Professor Mary MorrellWednesday 7 November 2012, 5.30pm, G16, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, SouthKensington CampusAll welcome but with registrations in advance with Nousheen Tariq.Inaugural Lecture – Professor Terry TetleyTuesday 27 November 2012, 5.30pm, G16, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, SouthKensington CampusAll welcome but with registrations in advance with Ruth O’Donnell.Hammersmith Campus Distinguished Lecture‘The Future of Medical Research’ presented by Professor Sir John Savill, Head,Medical Research CouncilTuesday 11 December 2012, 5pm, Lecture theatre 1, Wolfson Education Centre,Hammersmith CampusInaugural Lecture – Professor Anita SimondsWednesday 16 January 2013, 5.30pm, Paul Wood Lecture Theatre, Guy ScaddingBuilding, Royal Brompton CampusAll welcome but with registrations in advance with Ruth O’Donnell.Regular MeetingsScheduling and Audit Meeting in Pacing and Cardiac ElectrophysiologyMondays, 8-9.30am, Catheter Lab 4, Sydney Street, Royal Brompton HospitalContact: Dr Vias MarkidesPaediatric Joint Cardiac ConferenceMondays, 8-9am, Cardiology Seminar Room, Level 3, Chelsea Wing, RoyalBrompton HospitalContact: Dr Piers DaubeneyPaediatric Cardiac Grand RoundMondays, 9-9.45am, Cardiology Seminar Room, Level 3, Chelsea Wing, RoyalBrompton HospitalContact: Dr Piers DaubeneyPaediatric and Fetal Echo MeetingTuesdays, 8-9.30am, Cardiology Seminar Room, Level 3, Chelsea Wing, RoyalBrompton HospitalContact: Dr Julene Carvalho

Multi-Disciplinary Angina MeetingTuesdays, 12-2.30pm, Cardiology Seminar Room, Level 3, Chelsea Wing, RoyalBrompton HospitalContact: Christine WrightCongenital Cardiac Catheter Intervention MeetingTuesdays, 8-9.30am, Cardiology Seminar Room, Level 3, Chelsea Wing, RoyalBrompton HospitalContact: Professor Michael GatzoulisCardiovascular Grand RoundWednesdays, 8-9.00am (except clinical governance week), Paul Wood LectureTheatre, Guy Scadding Building, Royal Brompton CampusClinical governance weeks - 1.00 to 2.00pm on day allocated - location as aboveContact: Angela QueenClinical Cardiovascular MR MeetingThursdays, 1-2pm, CMR Seminar Room, Royal Brompton HospitalContact: Professor Raad MohiaddinRespiratory Seminar SeriesThursdays, 1-2pm, Education Centre, Respiratory Clinical Research Facility, FulhamWing, Royal Brompton HospitalContact: Zahra AdenPaediatric Joint Cardiac ConferenceThursdays, 8-9am, Cardiology Seminar Room, Level 3, Chelsea Wing, RoyalBrompton HospitalContact: Dr Piers DaubeneyAdult Congenital Heart RoundsFridays, 8-9.30pm, Seminar Room 1, Sydney Street, Royal Brompton HospitalContact: Professor Michael GatzoulisEchocardiography Teaching MeetingFridays, 1-2.30pm, Cardiology Seminar Room, Level 3, Chelsea Wing, RoyalBrompton HospitalContact: Dr Alison DuncanAdult Congenital Heart Open Research Meeting2 nd Thursday of the month, 1-2pm, Seminar Room 1, Sydney Street, Royal BromptonHospitalContact: Professor Michael GatzoulisOtherCornish coast expedition in celebration of Joseph Footitt Fund

Photograph 1 legend:From left to right: Dr Ross Walton, Dr Jaideep Dhariwal, DrHilary Whitworth, Dr Michael Edwards, Dr Mona Bafadhel(University of Leicester), Dr Nicholas Glanville, Miss BiancaDonges, Mr James Porter, Dr Nathan Bartlett, Dr JakeDunning, Miss Belen Trujillo-Torralbo and Mr Tamlyn PeelPhotograph 2 legend:The Respiratory Medicine Team, mid-hikeOn 17 August 2012, a team of twelve intrepid explorers from Respiratory Medicine atSt Mary’s Campus began a gruelling, three-day charity hike from St Ives toPenzance, to celebrate the life of their late friend and colleague, Dr Joseph Footitt.Battling against the best of the British summer weather, the team walked 43 milesthrough rain, wind and just the occasional ray of sunshine. Local ales, Cornishpasties and laughter helped maintain good spirits throughout.The expedition was a fitting tribute to Joseph, as he grew up in Cornwall and hikingthe Coastal Path was one of his favourite pursuits. A dedicated respiratory physicianand successful COPD researcher, the donations received will support the BritishLung Foundation fund set up in his honour, enabling the important researchconducted by Joseph and others to continue.The Team would like to thank all those who provided such generous sponsorship;the £2500 target was well and truly smashed, with more than £4000 having beenraised to date. Fundraising efforts are on-going, however. If you would like to make adonation, please go to our fundraising page.Message from ICTPlease be aware that there have been a couple of instances recently of key loggingdevices found attached to the workstations of academics in Life Sciences. Thedevices have been recovered and are being investigated by IT Security although it isnot believed that any breach of security has subsequently taken place. The devicesin question were quite sophisticated incorporating the ability to send the captureddata out of College via WiFi without using the College network and are similar to thedevices shown in these links:http://www.keelog.com/hardware_keylogger.html

http://www.keelog.com/files/KeyGrabberNanoWiFiUsersGuide.pdfPlease could we ask that you encourage your colleagues to regularly check theirworkstations for such devices and if found please contact IT Security for advice as tohow to have them safely removed.London - Brighton run for Asthma UKKristof Raemdonck and Megan Grace (Respiratory Pharmacology) will be runningfrom London to Brighton (56miles!) in aid of Asthma UK on 30 September 2012. Ifyou would like to sponsor them you can do so here:http://www.justgiving.com/Megan-Kristof?fb_ref=fundraising-pagenew&fb_source=profile_onelineGood luck Megan and Kristof!SubscriptionsCardiovascular Technology Network: if you wish to join, please contact Ms AngelaBishop.Imperial College School of Medicine seminar announcements and reminders:Subscribe to https://mailman.ic.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/seminars-icsmImperial College Events e-Bulletin: This e-Bulletin lists events taking place atImperial, with hyperlinks to further information. If you would like to sign up to receivethe e-Bulletin every fortnight, please email Events.Educational Development Unit Newsletter: Subscribe athttp://www.imperial.ac.uk/edudev/subscribePostdoc Development Centre Mailing List: If you would like to subscribe yourselfplease email pdc-support@imperial.ac.ukStaff Development Newsletter: Subscribe tohttp://www.imperial.ac.uk/staffdevelopment/workshops/forms/mailinglistImperial Daily News Digest: Sign up for Imperial News at:http://www.imperial.ac.uk/aboutimperial/pressoffice/signupforweeklynewsletter.Volunteering Weekly Newsletter: If you would like to subscribe yourself, pleaseemail the Volunteer Centre at volunteering@imperial.ac.uk with the words ‘subscribeto the weekly newsletter’ in the subject line.Joint Research Office Newsletter: welcome your suggestions for this Newsletter. Ifyou have any articles for inclusion or would like to subscribe, please emailclinicalresearchgovernanceoffice@imperial.ac.uk.

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