Pulse Magazine - Vol 01 Centenary Edition

Pulse Magazine - Vol 01 Centenary Edition

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL

MEDICAL SCHOOL

WHERE BRIGHT FUTURES Could you fall in love with Swansea too ?

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS

How soil bacteria could cure cancer GLOBAL CHALLENGES

New for 2021 The devastating effects of legal highs PHARMACY

Swansea’s Centenary Year

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January 2020 | Vol 01 Centenary Edition

In this issue

ST IN THE UK RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT 1

2 ND IN THE UK RESEARCH QUALITY

Teaching Excellence Framework

5 & 17

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GLOBAL RESEARCH CHALLENGES

SPOTLIGHT ON: PHARMACY

FRANCESCA’S REVISION TIPS

Global research challenge: Legal Highs

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6 ways to get ahead

Spotlight on: Employability

Go Global

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Our Charity: SDMF

People-centred research Spotlight on: Pharmacy

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16 Global research challenge: Cancer Research 17 Francesca’s revision tips 18 Save the world with your degree 19 Wellbeing 20 Top of the class - our 100% pass-rate 23 What our students say 24 What’s it like to live in Swansea? 26 Celebrating 100 years 28 What’s on in 2020 30 Work with us 31 Study with us 32

TOP OF THE CLASS

CONTACT Swansea University Medical School Singleton Park

Swansea SA2 8PP

ON THE COVER: Childhood sweethearts Akeem Halimi and Natalie Hughes, both 21, got engaged moments after graduating from Medical Biochemistry and Applied Medical Sciences in Summer 2019. Cover Image: Martin Ellard

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+44(0)1792 295111 [email protected] swansea.ac.uk/medicine

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS

Mae’r ddogfen hon ar gael yn Gymraeg hefyd

PULSE

SWANSEA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL

GLOBAL RESEARCH challenges MEET DR AMIRA GUIRGUIS, PROGRAMME DIRECTOR OF OUR NEW PHARMACY COURSE. HER RESEARCH EXPLORES NOVEL PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES, FORMERLY KNOWN AS LEGAL HIGHS, AND THE SIGNIFICANT THREAT THEY POSE TO PUBLIC HEALTH

Welcome THIS IS AN EXCITING TIME FOR SWANSEA UNIVERSITY AS WE CELEBRATE OUR CENTENARY YEAR. WELCOME TO THE CENTENARY EDITION OF SWANSEA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL’S MAGAZINE.

In the news UTERINE CANCER TREATMENT BREAKTHROUGH Medical School scientists’ hard work in the fight against endometrial cancer has seen them being granted a US patent for pioneering new therapy. Professor Deya Gonzalez and Professor Steve Conlan, of the Reproductive Biology and Gynaecological Oncology group, developed a method of treating gynaecological cancer which it is hoped will minimise side effects for patients. The team hopes that the new findings could lead to a new treatment option for uterine cancer patients. £10MBOOSTFORMENTALHEALTH A pioneering research centre which will develop new ways of reducing anxiety and depression in young people will be established with funding of £10m from a major UK charity, the Wolfson Foundation. The Medical School has worked alongsideCardiff University todevelop theWolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health. Professor Ann John, Deputy Head of the Medical School said: “The centre promises a step-change in research efforts to understand and transform the lives of children and young people with anxietyanddepression.” SILVER AWARD FOR GENDER EQUALITY The Medical School is celebrating after being rewarded for its ongoing commitment to gender equality. As part of the Athena SWAN Charter scheme run by the Equality Challenge Unit, the University already holds a silver institutional award - one of only 13 universities in the UK, and theonlynon-RussellGroupUniversity toachieve this. The Medical School has renewed its existing Silver Award - which has now been extended to include itsprofessional services staff.

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and how to embed them in practice. This has been achieved through the development of the Institute of Life Science (ILS). The Medical School’s research and innovation arm, the ILS aims to advance medical science through multi-and interdisciplinary research and to link those benefits to the economy through Open Innovation. This mix of strengths makes us ideally placed to prepare and support our students to undertake careers across the fields of medicine, science, health, social care and enterprise and to turn research into patient-focused improvements. We are proud that graduate employability for our life scientists is among the best in the UK. The University has enjoyed a period of tremendous growth in the past 10 years and we have achieved our ambition to be a top 30 research University, achieving 26th position in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework league table in 2014. The Medical School is very much part of that success story. I hope this Centenary edition will give you a glimpse into the thriving community we have here at Swansea University Medical School. Professor Keith Lloyd, Head, Swansea University Medical School

My research mainly focuses on drug detection of novel psychoactive substances - drugs that mimic the effects of traditional recreational drugs. These drugs are emerging at an alarming rate and pose significant public health risks as they have unpredictable side effects. So, initially they were called ‘legal highs’ and that was wrong because it implied that they were legal and they were safe but that was simply not true. They were also known as designer drugs, club drugs and more recently Spice. Whatever we call them, they all include a number of classes so they may include cathinones, synthetic cannabinoids, phenlythilamines...but also, they may contain food supplements or diverted prescription medicines. This variety of drug classes means that they can do many things to a user. There are a lot of chemical reactions that take place and they can affect the dopamine, serotonin and adrenaline pathways in our brains. With Spice, or synthetic cannabinoids in general, we’ve seen mass poisoning in a number of countries, including the UK. In Manchester in April 2017, groups of people were seen in the City Centre looking like Zombies, basically, they were in catatonic state from taking Spice.

True to the vision of our industrial founders, the university uses our teaching and research strengths, collaboration with industry and global reach to drive economic growth, foster prosperity, and contribute to the health, leisure, and wellbeing of our community. Swansea University Medical School has come a long way in a short time since its beginnings as a Clinical School in 2001, with a proven track record of research quality and intensity, teaching excellence, graduate employability and prospects and student satisfaction. As a medical school we constantly strive to innovate, expand and deliver world- class education. Our performance in the Research Evaluation Framework (REF 2014), where we came 1 st in the UK for research environment and 2 nd for overall research is testament to this. Few medical schools offer courses that contain Intellectual Property generation, knowledge transfer and innovation

“Harm reduction – making sure that the patient is going to be safe – that is the most important thing”

substances. By knowing which class a drug belongs to, we can inform treatment and reduce harm. Find out more about Amira’s research into the devastating effects of ‘legal highs’ in Swansea University’s Podcast Series ‘Exploring Global Problems’

Spice products may contain more than one synthetic cannabinoid so we can’t assume that they’ll all mimic cannabis in effect - they don’t only work on CB1/CB2 receptors, they also work on other receptors and can alter multiple body functions. I’m now working with Addaction UK to improve detection and classification of novel psychoactive

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READMORE...

Interested in Pharmacy too? Turn to page 16 to find out more about our new course

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SWANSEA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL

COME AND SEE for yourself

There’s so much more to University than just studying towards your degree. At Swansea University Medical

DR DANNII HARTE Genetics & PhD Graduate

6 WAYS TO

get ahead

School, we have loads of opportunities for you to broaden your experience...

“The opportunities Swansea University has given me have been unforgettable. Coming to Swansea has been by far the best decision of my life. It gave me access to a year-long placement at GlaxoSmithKline, which really opened my eyes to what a career in research could be. I am proud to say I am a graduate of Swansea University… it is safe to say Swansea has truly got under my skin!”

Pick up a placement

Get some hands-on experience

Interested in Genetics? See P32

DR NAOMI JOYCE PhD Graduate

Share your findings at conferences

Travel the world

“My studies at the Medical School culminated in me staying to join the Enterprise and Innovation team, which has allowed to put my research into practice. In the spirit of open innovation, I use my studies to make a difference, taking other people’s innovations from bench to bedside and back again.”

“I’ve really enjoyed being a student ambassador for the Medical School. I actually find it very fulfilling, giving people the help I wanted when I was an applicant, as well as allowing me to gush about how much fun I’ve had studying here! And the extra money never hurt!” Latif Miah, Medicine Student

OPEN DAYS 2020

15 FEBRUARY

17 OCTOBER 07 NOVEMBER

04 APRIL 13 JUNE

Learn from the experts

Become an ambassador

Interested in a PhD? Turn over!

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swansea.ac.uk/open-days

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SWANSEA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SCHOOL

SPOTLIGHT ON

PURSUE YOUR INTERESTS, ENHANCE YOUR CAREER, OR TAKE A NEW DIRECTION WITH OUR POSTGRADUATE COURSES... Stay with us TAUGHT DEGREES Clinical Science (Medical Physics) MSc Diabetes Practice MSc/PGDip/PGCert/CPD Genomic Medicine MSc/PGDip/PGCert/CPD Leadership for the Health Professions

JACK BARTLETT BSc Medical Biochemistry and MSc Nanomedicine Graduate Jack is now studying Graduate Entry Medicine

Employability “Swansea University Medical School has been built on three pillars of strength that have influenced not only our range of courses but also the content we teach within them. Integral to all of our undergraduate degrees is employability, with clear pathways that provide an ideal springboard for careers in research, innovation and healthcare.”

“I started my first year in Swansea in 2015 and am now due to complete my medical degree in 2023, so I think it’s safe to say I’mpretty keen on this place! I have always felt well supported and encouraged whilst studying here.

My undergraduate degree in Medical Biochemistry was well paced, with a natural progression in terms of difficulty, but never to the point where we were out of our depth. I really enjoyed the campus experience; with the university being situated just outside the city centre it’s far enough to be a self-contained community, but close enough to the city for anything you could want”

Professor Phil Newton, Director of Learning and Teaching

Research

MSc/PGDip/PGCert/CPD Medical Education MSc/PGDip/PGCert/CPD Physician Associate Studies MSc Health >Page 1 Page 2-3 Page 4-5 Page 6-7 Page 8-9 Page 10-11 Page 12-13 Page 14-15 Page 16-17 Page 18-19 Page 20-21 Page 22-23 Page 24-25 Page 26-27 Page 28-29 Page 30-31 Page 32

www.swansea.ac.uk

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