Network Conference 11 – 12 Jan 2024
We were delighted to start 2024 by bringing together our research community at the BIOREME conference, “Biophysical Modelling in Respiratory Medicine” held on the 10 – 11 Jan 2024 in Nottingham.
We ran four sessions, each dedicated to a BIOREME thematic area. Each session was opened by a keynote speaker; Prof Jacky Smith, Prof Martin Clift, Prof Martin Genet and Prof Simon Johnson, who covered a fantastic breadth of research including, studies in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), inhaled particle toxicology, pulmonary poromechanics and cough monitoring. We welcomed 12 additional speakers, ranging all career stages from Undergraduates to Professors and covering a broad array of biophysical modelling applications including mechanical ventilation, lung imaging, understanding disease mechanisms in asthma, CF, pulmonary odema, IPF, chemical lung injury and COVID-19.
We were particularly excited to hear about the fantastic progress of BIOREME-funded studies, including Undergraduate summer interns; Israel Mason-Williams, Chris Hodson and Alisdair Coles and the first BIOREME Fellow, Dr Lorenzo Petralia.
James Shemilt, University of Manchester, presenting his work on day 1 of the conference
We were so impressed with the standards of the talks, our panel awarded three best presentation awards (not one as originally planned!) to, James Shemilt, Dr Jessica Luiz and Israel Mason-Williams.
Alongside the research talks, we experimented with “Academic speed dating”, whereby the participants introduced themselves to one another in 3 minute conversations. It was brilliant to see all the delegates participate with such enthusiasm and we believe this helped to foster a sense of community for the rest of the event.
Delegates meeting one another during the “Academic speed dating” session
Dr Carl Whitfield chaired a panel session on “opportunities and challenges for biophysical modelling in environmental health applications”. Panel members, Prof Bindi Brook, Prof Jacky Smith and Prof Martin Clift shared their insights and answered questions from the audience on public perception, policymakers and funding. These insights will be carried forward into our next event, a grant development sandpit on this theme.
We also welcomed representatives from Vitalograph, TidalSense and Arete Medical Technologies who presented Industry insights and the opportunities for modelling within respiratory services and applications.
Prof Bindi Brook, BIOREME network chair, closed the event and spoke of future BIOREME opportunities. We want to extend a big thank you to all those who took part and helped to make the event such a success, and in particular to Vitalograph for sponsoring the event (and the high quality goody bags!). We really hope to see you all at a future event later in 2024.