Past event highlights
BHF CRE Annual Symposium 2025
The Oxford cardiovascular community came together at the Town Hall on Wednesday 26th November for the BHF Oxford CRE annual symposium, a chance to share diverse and exciting research from across the network. There were talks from our transition fellows, PIs and researchers covering aspects of the CRE’s themes and subthemes. We were delighted to welcome our Scientific Advisory Board and the Senior BHF management team on the day.
Lisa Heather and Sarah De Val outlined what we are doing to support early career researchers and the cardiovascular network through our EDI and ECR working groups. Our keynote speaker, Fran Platt, gave an inspiring presentation entitled From curiosity to therapies: turning academic science into patient impact—a real highlight to help us launch our new Cardiovascular Innovation Awards. BHF Oxford CRE’s Svetlana Reilly shared her experiences in translation of her research through her talk Towards novel therapeutics in atrial fibrillation and cardiac fibrosis.
The poster exhibition was outstanding, with fantastic entries from graduate students and postdocs across the BHF Oxford CRE network. After a tough pre-event online competition, 12 finalists delivered fast-paced four-minute blitz presentations, and everyone had the chance to share their work with symposium attendees. The image competition generated some fantastic entries and a great display on the day. Many thanks to all the poster and image competition judges.
Keith Channon was very pleased to announce the winners of both competitions:
Postdoc/RA/non-student - Best short talk of poster: Kaitlyn MJH Dennis
The influence of fat composition on hepatic fat metabolism: findings from in vivo human and in vitro cellular models
Clinical student - Best short talk of poster: Lilli Ganzer
The Role of Neuropeptide Y in Human Cardiac Hypertrophy following Myocardial Infarction
Non-clinical student - Best short talk of poster: Heesung Jo
A Virtual Heart Under Stress: Enhancing Drug Testing with the Fight-or-Flight Response
Image competition – Judges’ choice: Victoria Rashbrook
The origins of the heart
Image competition – Audience choice: Selin Tüzüner
From blueprint to beating - engineering human cardiac development in a dish.
BHF Oxford CRE Early career researcher mentoring event 2025
On 20th October, the BHF Oxford CRE Early Career Researcher (ECR) Working Group hosted a mentoring event to connect postdoctoral researchers and final-year PhD students with experienced mentors. The aim of the event was to connect postdoctoral researchers and final-year PhD students with experienced mentors from across the University, representing a range of funding schemes and career stages. Hosted in DPAG, the event saw an excellent turnout, with 31 postdocs and PhD students registered, along with 11 mentors.
The event kicked off with a speed mentoring session, where postdocs and PhD students got together with mentors, rotating in groups, to engage and discuss a range of topics chosen by attendees. Discussions covered a wide range of themes, including early career research fellowship funding, postdoctoral development, and strategies for building an academic career. The atmosphere was engaging and supportive, with mentors sharing insights from their own experiences and offering practical advice on navigating the challenges of early research careers.
The event concluded with two panel discussions, driven by questions from participants, covering the topics of good mentorship and carving out a unique research niche. This session provided an excellent opportunity for postdocs and PhD students to have their questions answered from a range of perspectives, gaining valuable guidance from the mentors at different career stages. The mentors also posed questions to the audience, leading to lively and thought-provoking discussions.
Many thanks to all the mentors who generously donated their time to support the next generation of researchers, and to the participants who attended the event with such enthusiasm and excellent questions. The BHF Oxford CRE ECR Working Group will be in touch with the BHF Oxford CRE community with details of upcoming events in the new year.