By Heather Hobbs
BRINGING YOU THE LATEST NEWS & EVENTS FROM THE SCIENCE INDUSTRY Treaty Signing Marks Siting of International HQ for SKA
The UK has formally become the home of the new intergovermental organisation that has seen development of the World’s biggest ever radio telescope – the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Once operational the SKA will improve our understanding of the evolution of the Universe and help us to map hundreds of millions of galaxies.
The treaty signing in Rome (12 March), also established the siting of the international nerve centre of this project at Jodrell Bank in the UK, one of the seven founding countries behind the project.
UK Business Secretary Greg Clark said: “Science has no borders and the UK’s hosting of the global HQ of this international project demonstrates our leading position and influence in scientific collaboration and exploration.
“For generations Jodrell Bank has inspired young people and inspired children to take an interest in science and will now inspire the next generation of scientists.”
In addition to the UK’s financial contribution to the design, construction and operation of the SKA, the UK’s technical and scientific expertise will be built into the SKA’s DNA.
Anna Scaife, Professor of Radio Astronomy at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics said of the announcement: “Today is a landmark date for one of the great global scientific undertakings of the 21st century. Signing the treaty for SKA brings us closer to answering some of the most important questions in advancing our understanding of the Universe. It’s enormously exciting for the UK astronomy community to be
The initial signatories of the SKA Observatory Convention. From left to right: UK Ambassdor to Italy Jill Morris, China’s Vice Minister of Science and Technology Jianguo Zhang, Portugal’s Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education Manuel Heitor, Italian Minister of Education, Universities and Research Marco Bussetti, South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, the Netherlands Deputy Director of the Department for Science and Research Policy at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science Oscar Delnooz, and Australia’s Ambassdor to Italy Greg French. (Credit: STFC)
a key partner in this project. For me, the SKA project is not only about astronomy but also about pushing the boundaries of computing and technology. The technological solutions
we create to detect signals from the furthest depths of the Universe are made possible only by looking beyond what is currently available here on Earth.”
Radio astronomy allows us to ‘see’ invisible celestial objects, or those hidden in other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, through detection of the radio waves they emit. As the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the world, it will stretch technology to its limits and UK engineers, technologists and astronomers will be at the forefront of making this project a success. Scientists and engineers at UK universities and institutions are involved right across the design of the SKA including from the Universities of Manchester, Oxford and Cambridge and from the UKRI STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre.
UK industry has also been involved with the design of the SKA with over fifty UK companies awarded contracts in systems engineering, project management and software development.
In addition the SKA project offers the UK astronomy research community the opportunity to address some of the fundamental questions in research on the origin and evolution of the Universe. At the same time the technical innovations needed for the project will transform the capabilities of high-performance computing.
48712pr@reply-direct.com Biobank Data made Available to Global Research Community
Health researchers can now access a vast tranche of new UK Biobank genetic data offering an unprecedented resource to enhance understanding of human biology and aid in therapeutic discovery.
The exome sequence data of 50,000 UK Biobank participants were generated at the Regeneron Genetics Center through a collaboration between UK Biobank, Regeneron (US) and GSK (UK) and are linked to detailed health records, imaging and other health-related data. Regeneron is also leading a consortium of biopharma companies (including Abbvie, Alnylam, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Biogen, Pfizer and Takeda) to complete exome sequencing of the remaining 450,000 UK Biobank participants by 2020. In addition, GSK has committed a £40 million investment to initiatives, such as UK Biobank, that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines.
The incorporation of the data back into the UK Biobank is consistent with the founding principles of the project, following a brief exclusive research period for Regeneron and GSK. Additional tranches of data will similarly be released over the next two years. All sequencing and analyses activities are undertaken on a de-identified basis, with the utmost consideration and respect for participant privacy and confidentiality principles. As one of the most important studies of population health in the world, the initiative represents huge leverage of the public and charity investment that has supported UK Biobank up to this point; the costs of such a project would have been prohibitive had UK Biobank had to raise the funding itself.
Professor Fiona Watt, Executive Chair of the UK Medical Research Council, which has funded UK Biobank since its inception and continues to support enhancement activities,
said it was very pleasing to see industry and academia tackling health research together. “UK Biobank was established to do science in new ways. Industry has led the way on this exome sequencing project and the fruits of that work mean UK Biobank can now deliver important genetic data that would otherwise not be available to researchers.”
Professor Sir Rory Collins, UK Biobank’s Principal Investigator, encouraged approved researchers to use the data. “We are excited about the possibilities of letting loose the imaginations of scientists from around the world on these large-scale genomic data linked to so much detailed information related to health in the 500,000 UK Biobank participants,” he said.
48702pr@reply-direct.com Parasitologist Presented with new Young Researcher Award
Dr Mattie Christine Pawlowic, based at the Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research (WCAIR) in Dundee’s School of Life Sciences, has been named the inaugural winner of the British Society of Parasitology’s President’s Medal. The medal will be awarded annually to an outstanding early career researcher who, as well as having already produced international-quality research, demonstrates the potential to become a world leader in parasitology.
The award recognises Dr Pawlowic’s research into Cryptosporidium, parasites that cause chronic diarrhoea, or cryptosporidiosis, estimated to kill 48,000 children under the age of five annually, also leading to 4.2 million disability adjusted life-years.
Shedding light on the fundamental biology of Cryptosporidium for the first time, her research raised the possibility of future new treatments. “Very few research societies recognise the contributions of early career researchers in such a visible way as the British Society for Parasitology’s new President’s Medal. This really is a positive step to support young researchers and to become the first recipient feels very special to me,” she said.
“I have always been a parasitologist, even in undergraduate days, so to receive such a prestigious award is a huge honour. I started working on Cryptosporidium during my time as a postdoctoral researcher and since coming to Dundee I have continued to expand the set of
tools available to help us study this parasite.
“Being at Dundee and working alongside world-class experts in drug discovery furthers the chance of turning this basic science into real world applications. I’m really excited to collaborate with local drug discovery scientists and I think the awards panel also saw a lot of potential.”
She is to receive her medal during the annual meeting of the British Society of Parasitology in Manchester (15-17 April). Dr Pawlowic will also deliver the President’s Medal Lecture to an audience of some of the most esteemed figures in the field of parasitology at the meeting.
48697pr@reply-direct.com Dr Mattie Christine Pawlowic
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