The BMS is saddened to annouce the sudden passing of Professor Olga Hudlicka on Saturday 3rd May. An Obituary can be found on the BMS website. We offer our condolences to her family, friends and the many colleagues that knew this remarkable lady. RIP.
 

Dr Neena Kalia

Honorary Secretary

BMS 2014 Perspective from Moor Instruments winner Claire Sand

As a relatively recent convert to the field of microcirculation, this was my first time at a BMS meeting, and it was a very positive experience indeed; I learned a huge amount during the oral sessions, not only about current understanding of the microvasculature in health and disease, but also about the types of techniques that can be used to study it. The models presented by Dr Pooneh Bagher and Professor Sussan Nourshargh were particularly exciting, and I left feeling inspired to extend my forays into microcirculatory research. 

The Bristol University/BMS team were immensely friendly and welcoming, and I thought the meeting was very engaging and well run; smaller and more focused conferences have always appealed to me. The conference dinner was a particular highlight, with a great atmosphere and very impressive venue. I also found the exhibitor workshops very useful, and was fortunate to be able to chat at length with a representative of Moor Instruments, who gave me numerous ideas for further refinement of my model.  I was delighted to win the Moor Instruments Technology Prize, and am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to share my research and gain valuable feedback from conference attendees. I will definitely continue to attend BMS events in the future.

Claire is currently doing PhD with Dr Manasi Nandi and Professor Sue Brain in Cardiovascular Science at Kings College London.

BMS 2014: List of prizewinners

Left to right: Poonah Bagher, Michael Berks, Kai Betteridge, Professor Nicky Brown (BMS President), Claire Sand, Jo Ferguson, Li Li, Gary Mabbutt.

Early Career Investigator Award - Joanne Ferguson

BMS Poster Prize - Gary Mabbutt; Kai Betteridge

Terence Ryan Award for Best Clinical Abstract - Michael Berks

Moor Instruments Prize - Claire Sand; Pooneh Bagher

Best Oral - Li Li

SAS Award winners

Joe Robinson

Tom Keeley

Neven Ebrahim

Berit Plumhoff

Patricia Kelly

Rachael Wright

Natia Gamkrelidze

Dr Chris Neal demonstrates Vascular Chambers at BMS 2014

BMS Laboratory Visit Grant (LVG)

This year Patricia Kelly, a PhD student at the University of Ulster was awarded a BMS laboratory visit grant (LVG) to further her research. Here she talks about her experiences during her trip to Tuebingen in Germany.

Visiting Prof. Mathias Jucker’s research group at the Hertie-Institute for clinical brain research at the University of Tuebingen in Germany has been a truly invaluable experience.  I wish to thank the British Microcirculation Society (BMS) for their support and to express my sincere gratitude as the delighted recipient of the laboratory visit grant (lvg). 

The open-cranial window chamber (OCWC) preparation is a powerful research methodology allowing chronic imaging of real-time cerebrovascular structural and functional changes in the same mouse over time.  This technique is well established at the Hertie-Institute and has been optimised by Prof. Jucker’s research group (1).  I would like to thank Prof. Jucker for providing me with the unique opportunity to visit the Hertie-Institute to observe the murine OCWC surgery being conducted by members of his research group.

The OCWC is an important technique that will greatly enhance my research into the progressive vascular changes in AD, mentored by Dr. Christopher Mitchell at the University of Ulster (UU).  I am keen to elucidate the mechanisms of action of Liraglutide (Victoza^®; Novo Nordisk), a promising AD therapy shown in preclinical trials to improve both cardiovascular dysfunction and neuropathology in transgenic mouse models of AD.

During my visit to the Hertie Institute I gained a thorough understanding of the murine OCWC that I observed being conducted several times by different members of Prof. Jucker’s research group.  In addition, I took comprehensive notes on specialist instrumentation to facilitate the surgical procedure, which will make establishing the OCWC technique at the UU much easier.

In collaboration with the Hertie-Institute, I will use the OCWC procedure at UU to investigate the pharmacodynamics of Liraglutide in a transgenic mouse model of AD.  This exciting and novel surgical procedure will provide qualitative and quantitative measures of real-time changes in live cortical vessels exposed to Liraglutide. Liraglutide is an exciting therapy currently being evaluated in clinical trials in patients with early AD.  The findings of my study will greatly enhance current knowledge of the mechanisms of action of Liraglutide and provide a first author publication in collaboration with Prof. Jucker’s research group.  I would like to thank the BMS for supporting this excellent opportunity and for their continuing recognition and support of Early Career Investigators.

By Patricia Kelly, PhD Student

BMS at the Second European Conference on the Biology of Hydrogen Sulfide

The BMS sponsored a poster prize for “Best Vascular Poster” at the Second European Conference on the Biology of Hydrogen Sulfide held recently in Exeter.

The prize was won by Pauline Snijder from the University of Groningen for her poster entitled ‘Hydrogen sulphide reduced hypertension, proteinuria and renal damage’. Pauline was delighted with her prize.

The Conference was a huge success, attended by over 120 national and international scientists with an interest in the rapidly expanding and exciting field of H₂S biology and medicine.  There were some very exciting presentations with an entire session devoted to H₂S and the vasculature.  

The BMS had a significant presence at the meeting.  We had flyers and BMS pens in the delegate packs and a stall heroically manned by BMS members from Exeter, particularly Dr Kim Gooding.  The stall displayed our wonderful new banners (can be seen in the images taken at the recent IUPS) and provided visitors with information on the Society, benefits of membership and our forthcoming meetings.

BMS YIS talk to Malpighi Award winner Steven S Segal

Please click on the following link to access the BMS YIS interview with Steven S Segal following his inspiring Malpighi Award lecture at the IUPS 2013.

BMS YIS representative Dr Maria Machado discusses various routes to scientific success and issues facing early career investigators on a global scale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF8075GfJQI

The BMS would like to thank Steven Segal for allowing the filming and posting of this clip.