Keele University

Keele University – Biochemistry in Practice

Last month, our UK Sales Team Leader, Ashay Patel, took part in the Biochemistry in Practice Undergraduate Student poster Conference. Held at the beautiful campus of Keele University in Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK, the event welcomes employers, students and graduates to meet and discuss their research, work and career opportunities.

 

Our sales executive Ashay Patel commented;

 

“This was Randox’s third year exhibiting at the Keele University School of Life Sciences Undergraduate Student Conference. It is clear to see that with significant increase in student attendance and the quality of engagement during the exhibition periods, why the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) applauded their efforts and urged them to continue the great work. This year was an all-time high for the number of students using Randox Reagents, QC and RX Series instruments and their posters were of an extremely high standard, many of which would not be out of place at an international sized conference. It was also impressive to liaise with students about their career plans post-graduation, whether they were going into research or industry, the majority of students knew exactly where they wanted to go and some even saw Randox as an ideal fit for their next step in their Careers. “

 

As a global diagnostics company, we recognise the importance of attending these events to support students and graduates in the next steps of their career. With more than 1400 employees of 44 nationalities, including 300 research scientists and engineers, and offices in over 145 countries, we are continually reinvesting in our research and development to grow and achieve our aim of improving health worldwide. A significant investment of £161 million into the new state-of-the-art Randox Science Park, which has introduced 540 new jobs, will assist in accelerating our research capabilities, through the development of new products across a wide range of clinical needs on a global scale.

 

The Biochemistry in Practice Undergraduate Student Conference also provided students with the opportunity to showcase their third year projects and posters and we were delighted to sponsor two prizes for the winners!

 

Prize winner, Ryan Dimmock, commented;

 

“The Student conference was an invaluable experience to both inspire us and provide presentation practice which we can take forwards into our careers. It was also a great way to begin networking with employers, recruiters and societies.” 

 

Randox Prize winner, Charlotte Begley, commented;

 

“I would say that the conference was very enjoyable to attend. It was great to see the work of my peers and also to have the opportunity to share my own findings, especially as our third year projects are such a large part of our final year at university. Having the chance to experience a scientific conference prior to graduation was useful as it gave insight into the types of events likely to be attended regularly when pursuing a scientific career, and the opportunity to interact with exhibitors at the event was very helpful when discussing possible future careers and uses of our degrees.”

 

The two day event was very well received by all attendees, with a lot of positive feedback, have a read below and see what some other attendees had to say about the event!

 

During my study at Keele University, I undertook an ERASMUS placement at the Institut Pasteur, Paris, where I worked alongside Dr Christel Brou, Dr Patricia Chastagner and Professor Chiara Zurzolo in the Unité Trafic Membranaire et Pathogenèse. We studied Tunneling Nanotubules and their ability to transmit prions and other prion-like proteins such as Tau, sparking an interest in how neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are able to propagate pathology. 

 

Recently, with special thanks to Randox in supporting us, the final year students of Keele University were able to showcase the research carried out in a mini-conference. Through PowerPoint presentations and scientific posters, we could communicate our findings and showcase the importance behind the research undertaken. Conferences, such as this, are extremely important in developing experience for young scientists and establishing connections with other groups/researchers that take an interest in the scientific field. We thank Randox for the ongoing support in investing time and finance into young scientists that will one day hopefully contribute to health development.”Josh Tois