PhD candidate Hayley Green, Dr Abigail Bland, and PhD candidates Caitlin Berry-Kilgour and Maddie Berry.
The achievements of five emerging Otago researchers have been recognised at recent conferences.
Postdoctoral Fellow Abigail Bland, and PhD candidates Hayley Green, Caitlin Berry-Kilgour, Helen Cao and Maddie Berry have won awards at the annual Queenstown Research Week and Australasian Wound and Tissue Repair Meeting.
All based in the School of Biomedical Sciences Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, the young researchers were elated at their shared success.
“Attending Queenstown Research Week itself was an amazing experience, made even better by winning the Early Career Award at the Cancer Satellite meeting,” says Dr Bland.
“This meeting featured several academic speakers and presentations from across the globe on the topic of new technologies in cancer research, infections and cancer, and molecular biology in cancer.
“It was exciting to be able to attend and hear from the insights of prominent researchers as well as share my findings; winning the award was an excellent finish to an already fantastic experience!”
PhD candidate Helen Cao.
Other successes at Queenstown Research Week, included Miss Green winning the Fred Fastier Prize for Best Graduate Student Presentation at the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists meeting, and Miss Berry winning the Scientific Poster Prize at one of the Cancer Satellite meetings.
At the Australasian Wound and Tissue Repair Meeting in Sydney, Miss Berry-Kilgour received two awards for Most Outstanding Student Poster and Most Outstanding Student Rapid-Fire Presentation, and Miss Cao was the runner-up for the Outstanding Student Oral Presentation.
Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Professor Michelle Glass says the Department is proud of the emerging researchers' successes.
“Queenstown Research Week is New Zealand's biggest annual scientific gathering, it consists of several satellite meetings which cover a wide range of scientific areas and brings together well over 1,500 participants every year,” Professor Glass says.
“Seeing five of our young female researchers excelling in this space is not only an amazing achievement on their part but a success the entire Department shares in.
“We are glad to be celebrating together and know that this will continue to fuel our passion for research as we move forward.”
- Kōrero by the School of Biomedical Sciences Communications Adviser, Kelsey Schutte.