Tuesday 26 April 2016

Second ESRC 'Liability versus Innovation' seminar

Professors Alicia El Haj (ISTM) and Tsachi Keren-Paz (Law) hosted the second seminar in the ESRC series 'Liability versus innovation: unpacking key connections'.


The seminar brought together the Vice-Chancellor, clinicians, plaintiff personal injury lawyers, a Medical Defence Union representative, health economists, ethicists (Profesor Wendy Rogers, Macquarie University, Sydney) and academic lawyers from the United States (Professor Alex Stein, Benjamin N. Cardozo, School of Law, NY, Australia (Associate Professor Tina Cockburn, QUT Law School, Brisbane) and the UK.

Discussions revolved around the questions whether the threat of tort liability stifles innovation, the extent to which the different liability rules in the USA, UK and Australia stifle to a different extent innovation, and the methodological question how to define and measure innovation and how to measure the effect of legal rules on levels of innovation.

Monday 18 April 2016

Post Graduate Degree in Medical Engineering - Guy Hilton Reserach Centre Open Afternoon

Are you are interested in a post-graduate degree in Medical Engineering?


If so, please join us to find out what we have to offer. You will learn about our MSc courses in Biomedical Engineering and Cell and Tissue Engineering, and hear about the cutting edge research being carried out by the Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine. You will have the chance to see state of the art laboratories and talk to current and former students and researchers.

The Open Afternoon will take place at the Guy Hilton Research Centre from 13:30 - 16:30 on May 4th 2016. To confirm your attendance, please register by leaving your details below (by the 1st of May). Transport will be provided from Keele University campus.

To register for this event, please follow the link below: http://goo.gl/forms/LkwMu37xGw

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Tongji University delegation visits ISTM

The Director of ISTM & members of ISTM pose with the Tongji delegation
ISTM was delighted to welcome a delegation from Tongji University, Shanghai, China last week on the 5th April.

Dean of Medicine, Professor Xu Guotong; Professor Peng Luying; Professor Liang Xingqun; and the Director of the International Office, Associate Professor Zheng Hao met with members of ISTM as well as colleagues from across the University to discuss future research collaboration in the areas of Medicine.

The delegation, part of a larger delegation that also included experts in  Environmental Sustainability, also visited the School of Medicine and the Royal Stoke University Hospital.  The delegation was hosted by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Trevor McMillan and the visit to Keele University culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two universities.

Tongji University is part of the prestigious 985 group of universities selected by the Chinese government for special support and has one of the country's highest ranked medical schools. In 2015 Tongji and Keele successfully applied for joint ERASMUS+ funding for staff mobility and incoming PGR mobility.


Monday 4 April 2016

ISTM promotions to Senior Lecturer

Congratulations to the following members of ISTM on their recent promotions...

Ed Chadwick moved to Keele as Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering in 2012 from Aberystwyth University where he taught Biomechanics. After obtaining a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Nottingham and PhD in Bioengineering from Strathclyde, Ed spent several years working as a Senior Research Associate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

His research interests are in the application of biomechanical modeling and simulation techniques to study upper limb function in a range of neuromuscular disorders including spinal cord injury and stroke. He has a particular interest in the use of functional electrical stimulation (FES) and development of FES devices for the restoration of function. He is currently the theme lead for the Rehabilitation Research Group within ISTM, and MSc course Director for Biomedical Engineering, leading modules in medical technology and devices.

As well as a range of PhD studentships, charity and industrial funding, Ed is a co-investigator of a major EPSRC project in Enabling Technologies for Sensory Feedback in next generation assistive devices, in collaboration with Imperial, Newcastle, Leeds, Essex and Southampton universities. He also continues to collaborate with Case Western Reserve University in the USA on a major project funded by the National Institutes of Health. Ed currently serves on the Executive Council of the International Society of Biomechanics, and was one of the recipients of Keele's MRC Centenary Awards.


Clare Hoskins has been promoted to Senior Lecturer in recognition of her research and her contribution to development of the School of Pharmacy. Clare has managed stage 2 of the MPharm programme for the past three years and is currently leading the restructuring of the year-long module in line with the newly accredited course. Clare has also contributed towards the School's recruitment and widening participation activities and sits on the Faculty Outreach Committee.

Clare has taught on all years of the degree and especially is interested in ensuring her teaching content is informed by the advances in research in her field of interest. Clare's research group, "Keele Nanopharmaceutics", has gained significant recognition over the past four years for its work in the use of nanomedicines for drug delivery. Currently Clare supervises seven PhD students who work on multi-disciplinary projects ranging from organic synthesis through to biological investigations. Clare is the elected Secretary of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Chemical Nanosciences & Nanotechnology Division as well as sitting on the Committee for Preclinical Sciences and Animal Health for the Controlled Release Society. Clare organised the Nanopharmaceutics Symposium at Keele in July 2015, which she intends running on an annual basis.


Paul Roach joined Keele in Nov 2009 and has since established a laboratory for microfabrication and surface analysis. Learning from natural biological processes, he has pioneered the understanding of interfacial interactions with nano-surfaces. His work has generated international interest with his publications receiving over 3,300 citations with an H-index of 14.

He has attracted external grants totaling over £600k and is also a co-investigator of the EPSRC-MRC Regenerative Medicine Centre for Doctoral Training in conjunction with Nottingham and Loughborough worth 3.5m overall. In addition, Paul was a key contributor to the EPSRC Capital award for major equipment in ISTM. His research and PhD students investigate development of advanced materials, their manufacture and use in directing biological responses.

Paul has taken a very active role in promoting interdisciplinary research and is a prominent member of the biomaterials and regenerative medicine communities in the UK and Europe, serving as adjunct faculty at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University in the Netherlands. In 2014 he was elected to the UK Society of Biomaterials council and in 2015 to the Executive Committee of the RSC Biomaterials group. He is also a member of the EPSRC Early Career Manufacturing Forum.

Having previously served as academic conduct officer in the Medical School, Paul is now Director of MSc in Cell and Tissue Engineering and co-ordinates the summer school for Saudi medical students who have been visiting ISTM for the past five years.

Friday 1 April 2016

EXCLUSIVE: 8ft statue of Professor Alicia El Haj to be erected at the GHRC.

After receiving a petition from staff and students at the Institute for Science & Technology in Medicine, the Institute's Executive Management Committee has decided to commission an 8ft (2m 44cm) statue of Professor Alicia El Haj.

A petition calling for the statue was started by a group of enthusiastic PhD students and Post Doctoral Research Assistants at the Institute.  They felt that some form of lasting tribute to the work carried out by Professor Alicia El Haj, the Institute's Director, was needed to immortalise her contribution to science and to the Institute.  The petition quickly took off attracting more than 1600 signatures.  Overwhelmed by the feeling of support for such a tribute, the Institute's Executive Management Committee debated the request and decided unanimously in favour of accepting it.

When asked about having a larger than life statue built of herself, Professor El Haj replied, "Well, it's about time!"

An artists impression of what the statue might look like in front of the Guy Hilton Research Centre
A local artist, Mr A.P. Fool, has been commissioned to build the statue, which will be cast is bronze and mounted on a marble stone.  The statue is to be positioned at the front of the Guy Hilton Research Centre and will be visible to all visitors to the building.

Concerns were raised by the Faculty of Health over the projected costs of project, which is currently estimated at £57,000, but these concerns have since been withdrawn based on the proposed funding plan to be implemented by the Institute.  Essentially a levy will be placed against all members of ISTM.  Known as the "T Account Tax", each member will contribute a proportional amount from their personal Teaching Accounts.  By and large though, the response to this arbitrary funding method has been overwhelmingly positive - a tribute in itself to the popularity of Professor El Haj.

The statue is due to be completed, in place and greeting visitors, by the beginning of September this year.