https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.132.32

A further three two-day meetings organised by our members at their institutes took place in August and September this year. These meetings bring your communities together to hear and discuss the latest research in the field. A vital element is also networking with both early career and established researchers to forge new collaborations.

Membrane Transport 2023: Recent Research into Ion Channels, Transporters and Epithelial Physiology
24 – 25 August 2023, University of St Andrews, UK

We began the second half of our 2023 events programme in August with a trip to the University of St Andrews for the Membrane Transport 2023: Recent Research into Ion Channels, Transporters and Epithelial Physiology meeting. This meeting was organised by Dr Morag Mansley (University of St Andrews, UK), Professor Mike Althaus (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Germany) and Dr Stephen Keely (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland).

Across the two days, the 85 attendees enjoyed the latest research in epithelial transport physiology and broadened their knowledge of the various emerging techniques in the field of membrane transport.

Alongside the 15 invited speaker talks, eight presenters from a number of international institutions showcased their work as oral communications and the 34 abstracts presented as posters made for a vibrant, engaging poster session at the end of day one. The scientific programme was wrapped up with an inspiring keynote lecture by Professor Volker Vallon (UC San Diego, US) entitled “The kidneys’ inner workings and needs: Lessons from inhibiting a glucose transporter”.

Epithelial physiology was not the only thing on display. The conference dinner taking place in Lower College Hall highlighted the striking, older buildings offered by the university followed by the attendees’ enthusiasm and impressive dancing at the ceilidh.

The organisers and two attendees share their highlights below.

Dr Morag Mansley
University of St Andrews, UK

As part of the organising committee, we were delighted to have been selected to arrange one of the first two-day meetings from The Physiological Society. We saw this as a unique opportunity to bring the Epithelia and Membrane Transport community together post-COVID with a smaller, focused meeting. We set out with the goal of promoting our Theme to the next generation of physiologists in our field. We are really grateful for the additional sponsorship we sought out and were awarded from industry partners, as well as the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews, as this allowed a lower registration rate for undergraduate and postgraduate students. We aimed high with our invited speakers as we wanted to ensure the meeting was attractive to physiologists in the UK, but also Europe and beyond. In the end, the programme was excellent and we are grateful, not only for the invited speakers, but those selected from submitted abstracts – the quality of presentations throughout was extremely high. Our poster session was really well attended and we opted to have a full two-hour session; this allowed for great discussion. Our Taste of Scotland dinner and ceilidh in the historic Upper and Lower Colleges of the university was a highlight of the meeting. The Events team from the Society were fantastic throughout, the organisation was smooth and they were happy to hold extra meetings in the run-up to the event to ensure everything was on track. Overall, I felt the meeting was a great success – we heard really exciting recent work from the Epithelia and Membrane Transport field, old and new colleagues had many in-depth discussions that the in-person event really catered for, and we were left with the recurring question – when is the next meeting?!

Professor Mike Althaus
Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Germany

It was a great pleasure to co-organise the Membrane Transport 2023 meeting with Dr Morag Mansley and Dr Stephen Keely. With four scientific sessions, “Recent developments in epithelial transport physiology”, “New insights into structure and function of ion channels and transporters”, “The transport physiologist’s toolbox in 2023” and “Dysfunction of ion channels and transporters in diseases”, we brought together excellent international speakers investigating a wide range of ion channels and transporters across many organs and tissues. As such, the meeting stimulated cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas and techniques. With the support from our sponsors (Nanion, Mund Scientific Instruments, Fisher Scientific, Sarstedt, Harvard Biosciences and the University of St Andrews) and The Physiological Society, we were able to make this a highly attractive meeting for early career researchers. Their oral and poster presentations greatly contributed to the success of this conference. I thoroughly enjoyed the friendly and positive atmosphere during the two days in St Andrews and I hope we can repeat this experience with our vibrant “Epithelia and Membrane Transport” community in the future. See you in 2025?

Dr Stephen Keely
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

It was an absolute privilege to have been a co-organiser for the Membrane Transport 2023 meeting in St Andrews. Overall, with its excellent programme of international speakers, fantastic venue, and thoroughly enjoyable social activities, the meeting could only be considered to be a great success. The standard of the oral and poster presentations was very high and the emphasis on early career researchers was appreciated by all. Support from The Physiological Society, both before and during the meeting, was second to none and there was great enthusiasm among participants for there to be a similar epithelia-themed meeting in 2025.

Professor Bonnie L. Blazer-Yost
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, US

The Membrane Transport meeting was an absolute delight. It was so nice to attend a meeting where every talk was interesting and pertinent to my research scope. Meetings of this size are ideal for senior scientists to reconnect with colleagues and for trainees to network with people in their field. I think the organisers did a great job of including both senior and junior scientists and covering a range of topics, tissues and techniques. I would love to see this meeting happen on a routine basis. I would certainly attend and would encourage my trainees to do so as well.

Dr Amy Dorward
University of St Andrews, UK, Early Career Researcher Poster Competition Winner

From kidneys to a ceilidh, Membrane Transport 2023 was the most enjoyable and engaging meeting I’ve attended this year. The programme of varied and cutting-edge research in the fields of epithelial and membrane transporters, put together by the fantastic organisers, showed such support for early career researchers. The focused two-day meeting meant I learned a lot, had the opportunity to present my own research, and met some potential collaborators in the process. Thank you!

Early Career Researcher Poster Competition Winner

Dr Amy Dorward, University of St Andrews, UK

Early Career Oral Communication Prize Winners

Dr Florian Sure, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
Rene Lawong, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Early Career Poster Prize Winners

Dr Amy Dorward, University of St Andrews, UK
Mayuree Rodrat, University of Bristol, UK
Nattanan Sajjaboontawee, University of York, UK