Stewart and Pitt Research Groups
The first Zinc-NET workshop was held at the Institute of Ophthalmology, at University College London, 4th and the 5th of November.
There was an impressive line-up of speakers who discussed how to measure zinc and a “hands-on ” session for the participants. Dr Samantha Pitt would like to thank the organisers, tutors and speakers for a highly informative and thought provoking session.
For more info visit zinc-net: http://zinc-net.com
The Stewart and Pitt labs would like to congratulate Gavin on obtaining his MRes.
Well done Gavin you did a great job.
The calcium signalling meeting was a huge success. A very enjoyable and informative meeting.
Thanks to Prof. Sandip Patel and Dr Grant Churchill for putting together such an exciting programme.
Dr Samantha Pitt would like to thank the organisers for giving her the opportunity not only to present her work but also to chair a session for the first time!
The ISZB meeting 2014 was a huge success and we would like to thank the organisers for putting together such an exciting programme.
Dr Samantha Pitt gave a talk entitled “The role of zinc in cardiac excitation-contraction coupling” and would like to thank ISZB for being selected as an awardee of an early career speaker prize at this meeting.
Dr Alan Stewart also presented his work on “Structural and biochemical characterization of zinc binding to serum albumin”.
Mant thanks to Tenovus Scotland for supporting our research. Dr Samantha Pitt and her team have just received a small grant to examine a new role for zinc in regulating cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium release.
Many congratulations to Omar who passed his PhD viva today!
Biochemical Society
9-10th October 2014
A Biochemical Society Focused Meeting
The aim of this meeting is to cover advances and controversies relating to intracellular Ca2+ channel function and dysfunction. Sessions will be led by early career scientists in order to engage “The next generation” of Ca2+ signallers. The meeting will cover contemporary developments in Ca2+ signalling mediated by the three main classes of intracellular Ca2+ release channels sensitive to NAADP, IP3 and ryanodine.
14th-19th September 2014
Zinc has important functions in initiating and regulating signal transduction as well as injury cascades in many cell systems. Zinc dyshomeostasis has been linked to several diseases, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, stroke and diabetes. Nutritional zinc deficiency, found in both developed and in third world countries, is associated with abnormal brain development and impaired learning and memory, but also with diarrhea, growth retardation and immune deficiency. The 2014 meeting will provide a detailed update by young scientists and leaders in the field of zinc biology.
A new VIZIB (Virtual Institute of Zinc Biology) website has been launched, with help of the Royal Society of Chemistry as part of the Zinc-net European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action chaired by Prof. Nicola Lowe (UCLAN). The purpose of the new site is for researchers interested in the study of zinc to share ideas and establish collaborations. The site can be accessed here (please note that registration is required).
