The Dr Hadwen Trust (DHT) has named Professor Eric Blair at the University of Leeds and Professor Oliver Hanemann at Plymouth University as recipients of the 2013 DHT Summer Studentship awards.

The DHT scheme, now in its second year, enables undergraduates to extend their studies over the summer period by gaining practical lab experience, using non-animal approaches, that will further our understanding of devastating diseases.

Each award is worth up to £1,440 over a maximum 8 week period, with a separate budget of up to £500 available for consumables.

Professor Blair’s student, Jonathan Carr, who is studying for a BSc in Medical Biochemistry, will extend his studies by gaining practical laboratory experience to understand whether human adenoviruses can enter, spread and migrate through a multi-cellular tumour spheroid and whether this process can be monitored in real time using live cell imaging techniques. 

Professor Hanemann’s student, Jade Lyons-Rimmer, who is studying for a BSc in Clinical Sciences, will aim to identify novel binding partners of KSR1 in human Schwann cells using a proteomics-based approach to further understand the roles of KSR1 in proliferation and apoptosis of Schwann cells.  This project offers exciting replacement potential and this non-animal approach alone will prevent approximately 190 mice being used.

Kailah Eglington, Chief Executive of the Dr Hadwen Trust, said: “Our Summer Studentship award is an opportunity to inspire the next generation of research students.

 “We are really encouraged by the quality and quantity of the entries we have received this year. The winners of our awards clearly demonstrated how their animal-alternative research techniques had the potential to replace the use of many animals in conventional biomedical research.

"We are confident that the projects chosen will deliver not only valuable science but whet an appetite in these students to continue this work long after they graduate."

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