The Queen awards BCHC members

This week, several members of BCHC attended a ceremony in Buckingham Palace to receive the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for pioneering work in parasitology. Queen Camilla presented the award and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also praised the prize winners. The prestigious award recognises the work of scientists in the Department of Life Sciences here at Aberystwyth…

BCHC encourages next generation of parasitologists

This month, members of BCHC including Prof Karl Hoffmann, Dr Gabriel Rinaldi, Dr Jo Forde-Thomas and PhD student Sarah Davey attended a Careers event at Ysgol Penglais, Aberystwyth. The event was held for Year 8 students where BCHC members showed and discussed some of the work carried out at Aberystwyth University and hopefully inspired the…

Functional Genomics Workshop in Brazil

During the last two weeks of September, BCHC member Prof Gabriel Rinaldi ran a workshop with colleagues in Brazil. The international online course aimed at presenting different functional genomic methodologies in parasites and their vectors, including interference RNA, CRISPR CAS knock-in and knock-out. The course focused on single-cell sequencing from the preparation to data analysis.…

DLS Festival of Research 2023

On Friday 15th September, the Department of Life Sciences (DLS) at Aberystwyth University held the first DLS Festival of Research. The event was a great success, providing an opportunity to share and celebrate the research taking place across the department. Several BCHC members took part, giving talks and presenting posters throughout the day. Talks included…

BCHC Members Involved in OneZoo CDT Projects

The OneZoo CDT PhD projects for 2023-24 are now open for applications. Several of our BCHC members are involved with the projects. Dr Russ Morphew is supervising Novel environmental biomarkers for liver fluke control, with co-supervisors including Prof. Peter Brophy and Dr Rhys Jones. Dr Russ Morphew is also involved with other OneZoo CDT projects…

BCHC celebrates Viva success!

On 14th March, Pom Wititkornkul successfully defended her thesis: ‘Horsing around with Anoplocephala perfoliata: A Polyomic Investigation of the Host–Parasite Interface’ She was examined by Professor Cinzia Cantacessi from the University of Cambridge and Dr Iain Chalmers from Aberystwyth University. The viva was chaired by Professor Peter Brophy. Congratulations Dr Wititkornkul!

British Science Week at Aberystwyth University

This March members of the BCHC took part in British Science week hosted by Aberystwyth University. An annual UK wide celebration of science, technology, engineering and Maths, this year’s theme was Connections. Over the 3-day event pupils from local primary and secondary schools visited the Penglais campus for the opportunity to engage with a wide…

BCHC strengthens collaborations with University of Cambridge 

This month we welcomed Klara Stark a PhD student from the Department of Veterinary, University of Cambridge. Her PhD focuses on the question ‘How does the Schistosoma mansoni egg alter the intestinal microbial makeup of its host?’ with an overall aim of new antibiotic discovery.   While at Aberystwyth University she tested the antibacterial effect of Schistosoma mansoni egg excretory-secretory products using a…

Aberystwyth Welcomes OneZoo CDT

Members of BCHC here at Aberystwyth University are proud to be a part of the OneZoo CDT.  This OneZoo CDT provides a transdisciplinary approach that aims to empower the next generation of scientists to understand and control zoonotic threats around the world. Research scientists from Aberystwyth University, Cardiff University, Queen’s University Belfast, and the London…