Events 2024

The PenARC Implementation Science Team runs a monthly implementation science forum on the last Wednesday of the month. The next one is on 26th June, 12.00-13.00pm. If you would like a Teams link and calendar invite please contact Charlotte Hewlett (c.hewlett@exeter.ac.uk). Each one is a standalone session, so just come to any that you like the sound of.
 
The format is a one-hour online meeting for researchers and others interested in implementation issues. Each meeting focuses on a topical issue in implementation science and involves discussion based around a relevant article. There is no expectation to read the article beforehand, although it is circulated in good time for those who are interested. There will be opportunity within the meeting to raise implementation issues that you are experiencing for discussion.
 
Upcoming topics include intervention adaptation, service user engagement, spread/scale-up and implementation support practitioners. There will also be an opportunity to share information about other implementation science resources and events.
 
The article we will be discussing at the next (June 2024) meeting is:
Brownson, R.C., Shelton, R.C., Geng, E.H. et al. Revisiting concepts of evidence in implementation science. Implementation Sci 17, 26 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-022-01201-y

Unravelling the Complexity of Psychiatric Disorders: The Role of Polygenic Score
Cathryn Lewis

We are pleased to invite you to this joint SEGEG meeting and CBS Seminar with Cathryn Lewis, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology & Statistics at King’s College London. This will be a hybrid seminar with the speaker presenting live in-person in the Xfi Lecture Theatre on the Streatham Campus. There is also the option join virtually via Zoom https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/j/95758220648?pwd=MKuRabdbAhpmhPR2G55IOqECYmLbBX.1 Meeting ID: 957 5822 0648 Password: 443987. Please feel free to forward this invitation to colleagues and networks.  

Bio:
Cathryn Lewis is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology & Statistics at King’s College London, where she leads the Statistical Genetics Unit. Her academic training is in mathematics and statistics, and she has been involved in genetic studies since her PhD. She co-chairs the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Major Depressive Disorder Working group and is Co-Deputy Lead of the Trials, Genomics and Prediction theme at the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. Her multi-disciplinary research group identifies and characterises genetic variants conferring risk of disease, including depression, schizophrenia, and stroke. A major focus is a risk assessment, determining how the polygenic component of mental health disorders can be measured accurately and used in clinical care.

Understanding the causes of epigenetic dysfunction in human disease
Duncan Sproul

We are pleased to invite you to this CBS Seminar with Duncan Sproul from the MRC Human Genetics Unit and Institute of Genetics and Cancer at the University of Edinburgh. This will be a hybrid seminar with the speaker presenting live in-person in South Cloisters, room 3.06.There is also the option join virtually via Zoom https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/j/93135965723?pwd=c3dCaXlIKzJnZzJWYzlkYnAxWmliUT09 Meeting ID: 931 3596 5723 Password: 121700. A drinks reception with alcoholic drinks and nibbles will also be provided at the seminar. Please feel free to forward this invitation to colleagues and networks.

Bio:
Dr Duncan Sproul is a programme leader at the MRC Human Genetics Unit and Institute of Genetics and Cancer.  Duncan studied Genetics at the University of Edinburgh before being awarded an MRC pre-doctoral fellowship to undertake a PhD on the regulation of gene clusters with Prof Wendy Bickmore at the MRC Human Genetics Unit. During his postdoctoral training at the Edinburgh Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit with Dr Andrew Sims, Duncan applied emerging epigenomic technologies to understand the role of epigenetic dysfunction in breast carcinogenesis. He joined the MRC Human Genetics Unit in 2013 as a research fellow and was awarded a Career Development Fellowship from CRUK in 2016. He is also an alumnus of the Scottish Crucible.

Abstract:
Our work focuses on using interdisciplinary approaches to understand the role of epigenetic dysfunction in human disease, particularly cancer. Alterations in the levels of epigenetic marks, are an intrinsic hallmark of many human diseases. However, we do not currently understand the role of epigenetic dysfunction in human disease and how it can be targeted to treat patients. Our main focus is on understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning the widespread alterations in the distribution of the repressive epigenetic mark DNA methylation observed in cancer. We combine computational analysis of large datasets, mathematical modelling and focused experiments in the laboratory. While we principally work on DNA methylation in cancer, we have also examined DNA methylation in aging and Mendelian disorders in collaboration with other research groups. In this talk, I will focus on our recent work to understand why cancers lose DNA methylation from their genomes. This hallmark of cancer was first described in 1983 and has been proposed to promote carcinogenesis by causing genomic instability. However, its causes remain poorly understood.

For UEMS staff and UEMS research students

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Professor Obi Ukoumunne

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