Our centres vision is to commit to cultivating diversity, promoting interdisciplinary collaborations, and training the next generation of scientific leaders at the interface of basic science and clinical practice. With this vision to create novel breakthroughs in medicine through a strong collaborative approach, we are strong in our interconnection between basic scientists and clinicians with a pioneering spirit and innovative leadership. This was once again highlighted by the high quality research presented at the WCMM research day 2024.
The event started with a warm welcoming from our director Prof. Gunilla Westergren-Thorsson, followed by a highly informative keynote lecture by Prof. Maria Tenje. Maria is a professor at Uppsala University and presented how she and her group generate micro-structured hydrogels in order to produce organ-on-chip applications. We also had the pleasure to host Lund Infrastructure representatives from the SciLifeLab and Life Science Microfluidics. The talks focused on explaining the possibilities for researchers at WCMM Lund to start and advance their projects in the field of tissue & regeneration using their service and equipment offered through Lund University.
Our gratitude goes also to the WCMM trainees Inês Caiado, Chimezie Harrison Umeano, Kelley M. Swanberg, Luís Oliveira and Marios Kritsilis who presented and guided us through their research projects and promising achievements. We especially want to highlight and congratulate Inês Caiado for her award-winning talk about using direct cell reprogramming to inform on the transcriptional network for a natural killer cell program. Well deserved!
- Inês Caiado | Cell Reprogramming in Hematopoiesis and Immunity | Title: “Direct reprogramming Informs on Transcription Network Initiating Natural Killer Cell Program”
- Chimezie Harrison Umeano | Regenerative Immunology | Title: “Exploring the immune system in Complex Multi-tissue Regeneration”
- Kelley M. Swanberg | Glia-Immune Interactions | Title: “Cerebrospinal fluid efflux through nasal pathways responds to injection rate challenge and olfactory neural damage in living mice”
- Luís Oliveira | Reprogramming in Hematopoiesis and Immunity | Title: “Transcription factor blueprints underlying dendritic cell diversity”
- Marios Kritsilis | Glia-Immune Interactions | Title: “Loss of glymphatic homeostasis in heart failure”
Alongside with the topic of the day, we had the pleasure to host another keynote speaker Jan de Boers from the Eindhoven University of Technology. Jan is currently in Lund as a visiting professor through the Pufendorf initiative. Jan had a very entertaining and insightful talk explaining the "Braille for cells" and how micro-topographies can be instructive for cell behaviour and morphology. Jan explained also how topographies can be used to improve the treatment of glaucoma through next-generation stents.
As part of the WCMM Lund, the WCMM research school organised a session for the WCMM research day to discuss the ethics of publishing. This highly relevant topic led to intense discussions helping young researchers to take out key messages and learnings when it comes to pre-print articles, the publishing system and journal policies.
Moreover, the research day offered poster presenters to exhibit their newest findings. 30 students used this opportunity to either discuss their early-stage projects for valuable input or to receive feedback and polish their late-stage projects before taking the step to submit for publication. At this point, we want to warmly congratulate Lisa Teresa Porschen for the well-prepared poster that was selected for the best poster award and wish her all the best for the continuation of the project.
The WCMM Research Day 2023 finished the scientific part with motivating closing words from our new co-director Kristian Pietras. Afterwards, WCMM research day attendees were hosted in Skissernas museum for a joyful dinner mingle while enjoying the beautiful sketches exhibited in the museum.
To finish the day with a good laughter, the Organization committee had a last surprise for all attendees and invited the members of Lundaspexarna to perform an entertaining show. We are very grateful for the amazing work the organizing committee Oscar Van Der Have, Swathi Packirisamy and Iran Augusto Silva have done and put together an exciting program to make this day entertaining, insightful, memorable and importantly highlighting how valuable it is to be part of the Wallenberg centre of Molecular Medicine in Lund.
