Grants and scholarships awarded to students on undergraduate courses at the RVC.

Four Animal Care Trust summer studentships awarded

14 December 2023

The following four RVC students were awarded Animal Care Trust summer studentships which they undertook over the summer:

• Alexander Wallace (BVetMed 2 student) worked with supervisor Matthew Gage on the project Validating novel sex-specific non-alcoholic fatty liver disease inducing targets.  Alexander wanted to gain hands-on research and laboratory experience in order to provide insight into the field of academic research.  He was pleased to gain knowledge in laboratory techniques such as RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, RT-qPCR as well as critical analysis.  He also found it beneficial working along side a research team. 
  
  
• Heather Gray (BVetMed1 student) worked with supervisors Elizabeth Finding, Caroline Wheeler-Jones and Ashton Faulkner on the project Development of a co-culture angiogenesis assay using equine cells.  Heather has been considering intercalating her degree, but as she had not previously had much experience in research, wanted an opportunity to see what an intercalation year may be like.  Doing this project has enabled Heather to see where her degree could take her aside from clinical practice. 
  
  
• Kristina Smirnova (BVetMed2 student) worked with supervisors Caroline Pellet-Many, Denis Larkin and Claire Russell on the project Heart and muscle development phenotyping in zebrafish embryos: Role of NRAP H100Q variant.  Kristina has been considering a career in research so this provided an opportunity to explore this further.  This particular project appealed as she had enjoyed studying the cardiovascular system and embryology on the BVetMed course and this would help deepen her knowledge of these subject areas.  Kristina says the project has helped improve her time management and organising skills as she had to plan experiments in advance.  It also gave her opportunity to develop her note-taking skills which will be useful for studying and working in general, as well as in a lab environment.  Finally she enjoyed learning and practicing different lab techniques that she had only previously heard mentioned in textbooks and lectures.  
  
  
• Ching Lam Venice Yip (Bioveterinary Sciences2 student) worked with supervisors Claire Russell, Valentina Marchica and Anselm Zdebik on the project Does pregnenolone reduce seizures in the zebrafish model of CLN3 disease?  Venice was keen to do the studentship as she is considering pursuing a career in the field of neurobiology and psychological sciences and also wanted to see what it was like working in academia.  She found the experience particularly useful as her project focused on the development of the nervous system, the pathogenesis and consequences of particular gene mutations as well as potential forms of treatment.  She enjoyed exploring novel components which have recently been targets of interest  as possible therapeutic strategies in treating CLN3 disease.  Venice says she benefitted from developing communication and collaboration skills and it highlighted to her the  importance of communication, division of labour and team work which will all help as she proceeds further into scientific research in the future.  

Two Animal Care Trust summer studentships awarded

24 November 2022

The following two RVC students were awarded Animal Care Trust summer studentships which they undertook over the summer:

• Chloe Kuo (BVetMed2 student) worked with supervisors Denis Larkin, Imelda McGonnell, Caroline Pellet-Many and Claire Russell on Could hibernation, cold adaptation, and deep-diving be facilitated by the same mutation in mammals, birds, and fishes? The project focussed on a mutation at site 100 of the NRAP gene. This mutation from histidine to glutamine was hypothesized to be associated with hibernation, cold adaptation and deep-diving in many animals. The project investigated the amino acid at this site in chickens, zebrafish and bats. Chloe was involved in the molecular biology aspects with the chickens and bioinformatics with the bats. She worked alongside her supervisors in the lab to try to construct a NRAP-containing vector appropriate for chicken embryos.  Chickens have glutamine at site 100, which may help with their ability to slow their heart rate down when taken out of the incubator. Chloe also ran bat genomes taken from NCBI through various computer programs for genome alignment and prediction. This was to see if there is an association between histidine with non-hibernating species and glutamine with hibernating species.  Chloe found that doing the studentship gave her opportunity to learn new research skills.  She says that she is likely to go into research in the future, possibly after spending some time in general practice.  She enjoyed her project, as it involved a lot of problem-solving.  
  
  
• Seneca Phillips (BVetMed1 student) worked with supervisors Tim Dreyer, Sarah Brown and Scott Roberts on Investigating regulation of appositional bone growth and characterising periosteum derived cells in a mouse model of sclerosteosis.  The aim of the project was to determine whether there was a difference between wild type and SOST knock-out (KO) mouse periosteum-derived cell (PDC) skeletal stem cell markers and whether these cells display an altered osteogenic differentiation profile.  Although it turned out not to be possible to complete the project within the 6-weeks timescale, Seneca still found the project beneficial as she learned about how biomedical research was done and how a lab operated, as she had not worked in one previously.  She found the topics covered by the research project interesting, especially as the research being done was relatively new as opposed to repeating previous experiments to verify results.  Seneca learned a lot of lab techniques and data analysis techniques that she had not come across previously and these gave her a greater appreciation of what goes on in a research lab.  She particularly found it interesting that the group's research into sclerosteosis could both help find a treatment/cure for the disease, whilst also coming up with new therapies for diseases causing decreased bone density. She liked that there was so much potential in this specific area of research to help improve the lives and health of both people and animals.  Seneca would consider a career in research if a good opportunity arose, though she does like the excitement and the daily different cases that come into a vet hospital, which she would miss if she was to work solely in research.  
  
  

Anatomical Society Vacation Studentship awarded

8 June 2022

Congratulations to RVC undergraduate student, Diana Vezeleva, who has been awarded an Anatomical Society Vacation Studentship for the Summer of 2022 for the project Dawning of a new 'phase' in contrast imaging: visualising soft and hard joint issues. This award will fund cutting edge research into the nanoscale organisation of the cartilage-bone interface in healthy and osteoarthritic joints.   She will be supervised by Lucinda Evans and Professor Andrew Pitsillides.

BBSRC Research Experience Placement awarded

30 September 2021

Congratulations to Emmanuel Oloyede-Oyeyemi who was awarded a BBSRC Research Experience Placement to work over the summer with Aline Bouquet, Professor Christine Nicol and Dr Maria Diez-Leon on Lateralisation of maternal and suckling behaviour in domestic mares and foals.  There were 3 objectives to the project: 1) To collect data on maternal and foal social and feeding behaviours in Thoroughbred horses;  2) To identify patterns of lateralisation in dam-offspring interactions in Thoroughbred horses; 3) To identify factors affecting lateralisation of behaviour in Thoroughbred horses. 

During his placement, Emmanuel gained practical experience using standard behavioural methods during video and live observations of mare-foal behaviour (scan and focal sampling techniques), application of ethograms and importance of inter- and intra- observer reliability testing. He also acquired data entry and analysis using Excel (e.g. use of pivot tables) and statistical (SPSS) software for preliminary analyses of his data, and writing practice. Finally, Emmanuel gained knowledge of a new industry and further developed his team building and networking skills, both working with other peers, senior researchers, and industry stakeholders (for example the Thoroughbred stud manager and staff).

Four Animal Care Trust summer studentships awarded

30 September 2021

The following four RVC students were awarded Animal Care Trust summer studentships which they undertook over the summer:

• Caoimhe Abdul-Wahab worked with Dr Chris Richards on Movements and mechanics of arm reaching in tree frogs.   The aims of the study was to quantify the motions made by the frog reach in order to determine similarity to humans, and to consider, given the results, whether frogs would be a suitable model to better understand the complexities in the human arm motions.  Caoimhe really enjoyed the project and learnt a lot of different skills, including coding on Mathematica, which was different to programmes that she had used before.  She also enjoyed improving her skills in relation to remote working and developing communication, especially important at a time where employers are looking at those that are able to work remotely.
• Catherine Schimpf worked with Professor Caroline Wheeler-Jones and Dr Claire Thornton on  Endothelial metabolism and vascular health: the role of mitochondrial fission and fusion in human endothelial progenitor cell function.   The project focused on examining ‘young’ and ‘old’ human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).  Doing this project enabled Catherine to gain an understanding of experimental design. She developed  skills in a variety of laboratory techniques (including cell culture (development of aseptic technique), western blotting and qRT-PCR) and became familiar with analysis software important for processing raw data.  Catherine says “the studentship definitely gave me an appreciation for how biological research works. Going into the placement I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, and I hadn’t seriously considered it as a career option at all. I found it very appealing as a potential working environment and I am now looking for routes into postgraduate research.”   
• Claudia-Rose Franzini worked with Dr Virginia Marugan-Hernandez on Study of proteins related to invasion and endogenous development in the avian parasite Eimeria tenella.  E. tenella is an apicomplexan parasite that invades the caeca of chickens, resulting in coccidiosis – a disease that results in reduced weight gain and therefore is of great economic importance in the poultry industry. This project aimed to generate a stable population of E. tenella and then study the proteins involved in the endogenous development of the parasite.  Claudia-Rose says "as a first-year BVetMed student, this was an opportunity to explore the common techniques and technologies used in clinical research in more depth as well as build on my understanding of parasitology from the module covered this year. This was a great introduction to the process of clinical research and has opened my eyes to consider a career in veterinary clinical research. My exposure to the process of clinical research and the techniques used within it was minimal before. The chance to partake in this project has not only allowed me to deepen my own scientific understanding as well as some routine assays and techniques relevant to research but has also supported my development as a veterinarian in the vital investigative skills both researcher and clinicians must have. I now feel I have a greater appreciation of the direct impact that work in research can have on bettering animal welfare, through exploration and betterment of scientific understanding. This is something I would love to be a part of in the future."
• Anna Lexin Zhou worked with Dr Debbie Guest on Determining if NFκB inhibitors can prevent the negative effects of a combination of inflammatory cytokines on adult tendon cell gene expression. Anna has provided a report on her project.

BVetMed student awarded UFAW Ruth Harrison Student Scholarship award

13 December 2019

Congratulations to Izzy Izquierdo-Hall (BvetMed) student who was awarded the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW)  ‘Ruth Harrison Student Scholarship’ award for the highest quality project addressing the welfare of farmed animals at the recent UFAW vacation scholars meeting in Edinburgh.

Izzy received the award for her vacation scholarship work on laying hens with Prof Christine Nicol and Kate Norman. Izzy studied comfort behaviour performed by laying hens in cage-free barns compared to colony cages to determine whether the two systems differed in provision for these highly motivated behaviours that are important for hen welfare. She found that there was a significantly broader and higher rate of positive comfort behaviour expressed amongst the laying hens in the cage-free barns compared to the colony cages. These findings can aid producers and consumers in decisions about the potential for provision of  better hen welfare in different systems.  

Two summer studentships awarded

24 October 2019

The following two students received summer studentships to carry out projects at the RVC over the summer:

• Oscar James Drury (BSc2) worked with Dr Ruby Chang on Correlation between the geometry of retinal arteries and arterioles and the severity of hypertension in cats
• Hannah Smith (BSc2) worked with Dr Helen Stolp on Montelukast as a therapy for perinatal brain injury

BBSRC REP Summer studentship awarded

24 October 2019

Georgina Gallow (Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine with an intercalated BSc (Comparative Pathology) was awarded a BBSRC Research Experience Placement (REP).  She worked with Dr Anette Loeffler on Is plasmid-borne colistin resistance a problem in Gram-negative bacteria carried and shared by dogs and their owners? This project investigated the presence of colistin resistance in E. coli collected from healthy and infected (antimicrobial-treated) dogs in the UK and from their owners.

Georgina gained practical experience in phenotyping of Gram-negative bacteria from screening samples, molecular confirmation of bacterial species through PCR and microbroth dilution but also in the critical interpretation of results. This will be of value for a future career for the ability to problem-shoot and good study design while MIC determination and molecular analyses remain common procedures in most AMR related studies.

Georgina communicated with the international consortium members and participated in AMR-related wider RVC dermatology group meetings, case-discussions and seminars which highlighted the relevance of her research to clinical practice and OneHealth. Other transferrable, beneficial skills from the project included practice in data recording and scientific writing (Georgina produced the first manuscript draft to be used for the write-up of the collaborative study and will be included as co-author.)

Two Animal Care Trust summer studentships awarded

24 October 2019

The following two RVC students were awarded Animal Care Trust summer studentships which they undertook over the summer:

• Chloe Davison (BSc Biological Sciences, 2nd year) worked with Professor Michelangelo Campanella on Revealing the conserved CRIMNL (CholesteRol-dependent Mitochondrial-NucLear) interactions in toxin exposed neurones.  Chloe applied for the studentship because she was hoping to find more clarity on what career path she should take in the future, be it further study, a career in research or something completely different.  After completing the project, she says she has gained much more than that:  Alongside the various lab skills I have learnt, I have found out about the realities of working within a research team, including skill sharing and team meetings. It was a very stimulating environment to be in, where I was surrounded by people from a variety of backgrounds, with a lot of advice to share; to do with both lab work and work management in general. 
  
  
• Karolin Graefin Von Der Recke (BSc Biological Sciences, 2nd year) worked with Dr Virginia Marugan-Hernandez on a project investigating the role of actin in refractile body fusion in Eimeria parasites.  The project covered several aspects including the passage of cells to ultimately preparing a monolayer for infection, the harvest and sporulation of oocysts, and the purification of sporozoites to infect cells. Moreover, once the cells were infected, actin inhibitors were applied in order to investigate the effect this would have on refractile body fusion, the key aspect of my project.   Through this project, she was able to acquire many practical skills, most of which she did not have the opportunity to acquire in practical classes through her degree.  Karolin has provided a report of her placement.

Professor AR Michell symposium summer studentship awarded

25 October 2018

This summer studentship was funded as part of sponsorship provided for the symposium that celebrated the career of Professor Bob Michell.  Bob was passionate about science, driven by curiosity and a burning desire to understand both the similarities and differences between veterinary species and humans.

The studentship was awarded to Kate Kim, who worked with Professor Andrew Pitsillides on How does embryo movement provide an impetus to lengthen bones?

Kate explains that she applied for the summer studentship because: "The veterinary field is so widespread, and involves contribution from many other fields, including research, public health, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. It is my goal, while I am in vet school, to learn and gain experience in as many of these aspects as possible, as I will have limited resources to do so once I graduate. This summer studentship allowed me to immerse myself in a research environment  to learn and perform novel techniques and protocols. It was an invaluable experience to gain insight and appreciation for a different aspect of science. It is interesting to think that the research I was involved in this summer may inform how I treat my patients in the future. I worked very closely with Soraia Silva, and I am grateful for her guidance and the support of the Skeletal Biology Group at the RVC for making my project successful and enjoyable. I would also like to thank Professor Andrew Pitsillides, without whom I would not have this opportunity."

Two Animal Care Trust summer studentships awarded

12 October 2018

The following two RVC students were awarded Animal Care Trust summer studentships which they undertook over the summer:

• James Sweet-Jones (BSc2) worked with Professor Chantal Chenu on:  Does the loss of osteoblast-derived Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) affect skeletal innervation?
  James advised that he applied for the summer studentship because: "I am passionate about the biological sciences department at the Royal Veterinary College and sought to get involved as soon as the opportunity arose. I chose the project with Chantal Chenu because of my interest in bone function and metabolism sparked from her lectures in Years 1 and 2 of my course. I have been extremely privileged to work with Chantal in a project and I feel it has provided a solid preparation for my future plans to do a PhD and it has supplied me a number of credible contacts within the bone field. The lab skills involved will allow me to efficiently work on my third year project at the RVC."

• Josephous Miculob (BSc2) worked with Dr Sharon Kendall on:  Identification of the genetic basis of persistence in Mycobacterium smegmatis
  Josephous advised that he applied because: "I wanted to improve my practical and research skills. I also wanted to gain an insight into what it is like to work in a microbiology research lab. At the end of the project, I now feel much more comfortable and independent in a lab as I developed my practicals and research skills. These skills would be useful in my 3rd year research project and in relevant in-course assessments, and later in my science career. The summer project also gave me an opportunity to work with friendly and welcoming scientists who have inspired me and answered all my questions, whether technical or career-related. I would highly recommend anyone to apply to the summer project as it was a great learning experience which I thoroughly enjoyed."

BBSRC REP summer studentship awarded

10 November 2017

The following RVC student was awarded a BBSRC Research Experience Placement (REP):

• Patricia Muehlstaedt worked with Andy Pitsillides on "How does embryo movement provide an impetus to lengthen bones?

Three Animal Care Trust summer studentships awarded

09 November 2017

Three RVC students were awarded Animal Care Trust summer studentships which they undertook over the summer:

• Ellie May (BSc2) worked with Dr Isabel Orriss and Dr Chantal Chenu on: "Do high glucose levels inhibit bone formation by potentiating local purinergic signalling?"
• Kirsty Clarke (BSc1) worked with Mercedes Sanchez-Garzon on: "Study design for the transmission of Pinworm into laboratory animals (mice and rats) by animal technicians who are in contact with rodents or have rodents pets at home"
• Margaux Corpe (BSc2) worked with Dr Sue Brown on: "Rostral-caudal gradients in the developing dystroglycanopathy brain"

BBSRC REP summer studentship awarded

05 October 2016

The following RVC undergraduate student was awarded a BBSRC Research Experience Placement (REP):

Jordon Egan (BVetMed) who carried out the project "Impact of maternal vitamin D deficiency on anti-mullerian (AMH) expression in foetal ovaries " under the supervision of Dr Ali Fouladi-Nashta.

Three Animal Care Trust summer studentships awarded 

05 October 2016

Three RVC students were awarded Animal Care Trust summer studentships:

• Jennifer Caroline Kwok (BVetMed2) worked with Dr. Jocelyn Riggins, Professor Damer Blake and Professor Mark Fox on " Angiostrongylus vasorum – Can dogs become infected without eating parasitised mollusc intermediate hosts? "
• David Walsh (BSc2) worked with Dr Sue Brown on "Angiogenesis within the cerebral cortex of dystroglycanopathy mice"
• Liana Hardy (BSc2) worked with Dr Michelangelo Campanella on "Chemo-targeting of mitochondrial TSPO to validateendocrine therapy in canine mammary tumour lines"
  
  

Five summer studentships awarded within our Centre for Animal Welfare

13 June 2014

The Centre for Animal Welfare has been awarded three student scholarships from UFAW (Universities Federation for Animal Welfare):

• Samantha Hambleton (BVetMed Year 4) will be working with Dr Troy Gibson on "Opinions of farmers and veterinarians on using NSAIDs alongside local anaesthesia when disbudding calves"
• Naomi Jane Humphreys (BVetMed Year 4) will be working with Dr Troy Gibson on "Assessment of pain-induced distress with infrared thermography in response to rubber ring castration and tail docking in lambs"
• Antonia Matthews will be working with Dr Siobhan Abeyesinghe on "Can chickens smell fear?"

And a further two from HSA (Humane slaughter association):

• Elisabeth Bedford (BVetMed Year 4) will be working with Dr Troy Gibson on "Investigation of equine slaughter and stunning methods"
• Grace Simmonds (BVetMed Year 4) will be working with Dr Troy Gibson on "Investigation of current profiles during head only electrical stunning of sheep in UK abattoirs"

RVC student awarded summer studentship by Society for Endocrinology

06 June 2014

Congratulations to 1st year BSc student Dorottya Kovacs who has been awarded a summer studentship by the Society for Endocrinology to work on "Does C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) function to maintain blood brain barrier integrity and is it altered in diabetes?" She will be supervised by Dr Charlotte Lawson.

Five Wellcome Trust CVRT Scheme vacation studentships made to RVC

02 June 2014

The following students have been awarded Wellcome Trust CVRT Vacation Awards for this summer (2014) as part of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Veterinary Research Training Programme:

• Alan Johnson (BVetMed Year 1) will be working with Dr Abir Mukherjee on "Is activin and FSTL3 action on chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation sexually dimorphic?"
• Iain Brunt (BVetMed Year 2) will be working with Dr Ali Fouladi-Nashta on "Does supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids to oocyte maturation affect embryo sex after in vitro fertilisation?"
• Laura Hussey (BVetMed Year 1) will be working with Dr Michelangelo Campanella on "The mitochondrial protein TSPO triggers ROS-mediated prosurvival pathways in the Companion Animals’ Mammary Cancer by limiting Cell Mitophagy"
• Luca Fortuna (BVetMed Year 2) will be working with Dr Robert Noad on " Does non-structural protein 1 of African Horse Sickness virus enhance translation of viral messenger RNA?"
• Sarah Woollatt (BVetMed Year 2) will be working with Professor Mark Fox on "Angiostrongylus vasorum – can dogs become infected without eating parasitised mollusc intermediate hosts?"

World Horse Welfare Undergraduate Bursary 2014 awarded to RVC student

13 May 2014

Lindsay Callan (BVetMed Year 4 student) has been awarded a World Horse Welfare undergraduate bursary. She will be supervised by Dr Nicola-Menzies-Gow.

Wellcome Trust CVRT Vacation Awards

Summer 2012

The following RVC undergraduate students were granted CVRT Vacation Awards for Summer 2012 as part of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Veterinary Research Training Programme:

• Abi Charlesworth to carry out the project: "Relating SNP genotype data to performance a rare breed of dual purpose dairy /beef cattle" project under the supervision of Dr Geoff Pollott.
• Alice Brockman to carry out the project: "Effect of Berberine on ribosomal RNA Processing" under the supervision of Dr Liam Good.
• Beckie Cordner to carry out the project: "Do the structure and function of distal tendons alter during growth?" under the supervision of Dr Sarah Williams.
• Josh Swain to carry out the project: "Consequences of herbicide exposure neuroendocrine development and function" under the supervision of Dr Robert Fowkes
• Lily Wilson to carry out the project: "The Role of microRNAs in T cell development" under the supervision of Dr Bradley Cobb.
• Samantha Hambleton to carry out the project: "Modelling Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (INCL) in zebrafish to enable drug discovery" under the supervision of Dr Claire Russell.

For more information about Wellcome Trust funding see Wellcome Trust: Funding: Biomedical Science

BBSRC Research Experience Placements

The following RVC undergraduate student was awarded a BBSRC Research Experience Placement (REP):

• Rachel Lampe to carry out the project: "Modelling animal gaits to understand stability, make predictions about neural control, and develop new tests for lameness and neuropathy" under the supervision of Dr Andrew Spence.

For more information on BBSRC placement schemes see BBSRC Nuffield Research Placements