BCHC News – Page 8 – Barrett Centre for Helminth Control

BCHC features in Advances Wales

The Barrett Centre for Helminth Control is featured in the Winter 2018 issue of ‘Advances Wales’, A quarterly publication that showcases the latest news, research, and developments in Science, Technology and Engineering in Wales. The article focuses on collaborative research conducted in conjunction with both Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Welsh…

Christmas trees aid the fight against Fasciolisis and Schistosomiasis

Scientists from Aberystwyth University, Ridgeway Research Ltd. and Phytoquest Ltd. have contributed to research that identifies a novel chemical compound from the bark of Noble fir trees and demonstrates that this compound has anthelmintic activity against two evolutionary related parasite species, the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica and the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. Fasciolosis (caused by…

BCHC engages with local students

As part of a programme of lectures organised by the West Wales Association of Young Scientists (WWAYS) our very own BCHC Director, Prof Karl Hoffmann took to the stage this week to present a lecture on his career path and how parasites and Schistosomes in particular, became the focus of his work. Prof. Hoffmann delivered…

BCHC student wins award for PhD presentation at the 5th Annual Scientific Drug Discovery Congress

Aberystwyth PhD student, David Cutress, has won one of two awards presented on the first day of the Annual Scientific Drug Discovery Congress held in Cardiff earlier this month. His talk, entitled ‘Towards validation of an immune suppressor protein from liver fluke as a drug target’, detailed the advances he has made to date in trying…

Aberystwyth hosts second drug discovery meeting

In mid-July, the BCHC hosted a second drug discovery mini symposium. Again, our colleagues Professor Andrew Westwell, Professor Andrea Brancale and Dr Salvatore Ferla travelled up from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University to listen to presentations delivered by staff and postgraduate students of the Hoffmann laboratory. With plenty of time…

Taking Schistosomes to the stage

At the end of May, BCHC members from the Hoffmann lab travelled to Builth Wells to deliver interactive science experiments to children of all ages competing at one of Europe’s largest cultural youth festivals, the Urdd National Eisteddfod. We took our custom made ‘plush parasites’ along to explain the Schistosome life-cycle and encouraged members of…

BCHC strengthens links in India

The BCHC has been delighted to welcome Dr P. A. Ahammed Shareef from the Department of Zoology at PMSO College, Kerala, India as a visiting Fellow during April and May. Shareef has previously visited Aberystwyth in 2013 as part of a BBSRC funded research project tackling Fasciolaisis in the UK and India working with both…

Aberystwyth University student scoops prize at BSP conference

Alessandra Crusco, a third year PhD student at IBERS Aberystwyth University, received one of the five poster awards at the British Society for Parasitology Annual Spring meeting this April. The completion was sponsored by BMC (Parasites and Vectors) and Elsevier. The competition was judged by BSP council members Dr Poppy Lamberton, Prof. Domenico Otranto, Dr…

Aberystwyth University hosts British Society for Parasitology Spring meeting

This April, Aberystwyth University hosted the British Society for Parasitology spring meeting. The meeting was last hosted by Aberystwyth over 30 years ago. 432 delegates travelled from as far away as New Zealand and Australia to present their work at this prestigious event. All 13 members of the Parasitology and Epidemiology Research Group here at…

Aberystwyth Student scoops prize at Cardiff Postgraduate Research Day

Alessandra Crusco, a 3rd year PhD student at Aberystwyth University has been presented with one of 3 prizes awarded for oral presentations at the recent ‘Cardiff School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Postgraduate Research Day’. Alessandra is co-supervised by Prof. Karl Hoffmann (Aberystwyth University) and Prof. Andrew Westwell (Cardiff University) and as such was invited to participate…

BCHC News (page 8)