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John Inglis Prize to HGU 3rd Year
Student:
6 November 08
We are delighted that Jamie Hackett has won this year's John Inglis prize for the best
student presentation. The panel takes into account both the quality of the science and
the presentation itself. This year's standard was extremely high across the board. Germ
cells (sperm and oocytes) are the only cells which transmit genetic information to the
next generation and are therefore of crucial importance to development and heritable
diseases.
He is interested in the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate the expression of genes
responsible for the development of germ cells. His investigations have indicated that DNA
methylation may have a crucial role in determining when and where germ-line specific
genes are expressed during development potentailly leading to a greater understanding of
this important process.
Verne Chapman Award
2008:
7 November 08
Congratulations to Joe Rainger who has won the Verne Chapman Award for the best student or postdoc talk at the International Mammalian Genome conference in Prague, 2-5 November. Joe has just submitted his thesis on work carried out in David FitzPatrick and Ian Jackson's labs.
His talk, on the molecular mechanisms of eye developmental abnormalities resulting from a mutation in the Fbn2 gene in mice, was selected from presentations first given at the student symposium on the day preceding the conference. He then went on to give the talk to the main conference, and received his award at the Conference Dinner on the final night. This is the second year in a row that a Unit student has won this award. Last year Angela Lee won in Kyoto.