https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.133.12

On Monday 4 March, early-career researcher scientists, politicians and a panel of expert judges attended Parliament for STEM for BRITAIN, a major scientific poster competition and exhibition. The event is organised by the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee to give members of both Houses of Parliament an insight into the outstanding research being carried out at UK universities by early-career researchers.

The Physiological Society Prize was judged by a panel of physiologists, including Chair of The Society’s Policy Committee Chair, Professor Mike Tipton, and Chair of Communities Committee, Professor Lucy R Green.

Speaking after presenting the award to Grace, Professor Tipton said:

“The Physiological Society is proud to support STEM for Britain, which gives the opportunity for early career physiologists to talk directly to politicians about their research”.

“Every year we award The Physiological Society Prize to an early career researcher in physiology whose research stands out for being novel, robust and important. This year was no different. I was really impressed by the first-class science on display. Awarding Grace The Physiological Society Prize is a testament to her excellent research on stem cells, her colleagues and supervisors, it also shows how critical physiology is for understanding how blood stem cells are regulated and produced, this could lead to the development of new therapies.”

Grace was shortlisted from hundreds of applicants to appear in Parliament. Her poster ‘Sticky Stem Cells: How PVA promotes blood stem cell production’ discusses the novel discoveries made from using PVA (found in the glue) to grow blood stem cells in the lab.

On winning The Physiological Society Prize, Grace said:

“I am delighted to have been awarded this prize and thank The Physiological Society for my award. It was a great experience to present my research in Parliament and to get feedback and questions from both academics and policy-makers. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor Adam Wilkinson for his expertise and support in making this project possible. It is such an exciting time to be in stem cell research and I cannot wait to see how the field develops.”

Stephen Metcalfe MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, said:

“This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers.

“These early career engineers, mathematicians and scientists are the architects of our future and STEM for BRITAIN is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work.”

The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee runs the event in collaboration with The Physiological Society and a range of learned and professional societies.