Amelia Bowman
Third-year Medicine student
During my 3rd year of medical school, I had the opportunity to complete a research project in the Greaves Lab using a cell-based screen to identify anti-inflammatory activity in approved drugs. On the advice of friends and supervisors I decided to try and submit my project results to two conferences on a national/international stage.
British Society of Rheumatology – Glasgow
In April 2022, I successfully submitted an abstract to the British Society of Rheumatology Annual conference. As my first application to a conference, I was thrilled to have my work accepted. Once I got over the initial shock of having to actually design and make a poster highlighting my key results, I travelled up to Glasgow to attend the national conference. While there I benefited greatly from meeting like-minded clinicians and scientists discussing new research and techniques. The constructive feedback I received was influential to thinking about how I could improve my work and think and potential future directions.
International Student Congress of (bio)Medical Students – Groningen
In June 2022, I accepted an invitation to give an oral presentation of my work at the 29th annual International Student Congress of (bio)Medical Students (ISCOMS) in Groningen, Holland. With a total of 830 participants and over 350 presentations, I felt nervous but elated to have the opportunity to share my work on such a large platform. After getting over the fear of answering difficult questions from the audience, I enjoyed being able to talk about my project at length to other students and researchers. It was very surprising to learn that my presentation won the session that day. Although I wasn’t expecting this honour, I feel proud to have some recognition of the many weeks of hard work and sleepless nights that completing my project brought. With the additional hands-on workshops, full scientific programme, and hectic social calendar there was hardly a moment to feel bored. Groningen is a wonderful city with a rich scientific history that I whole-heartedly recommend a visit.
I’d like to thank Prof Greaves’ lab for supporting me with my project and the Vaughan Williams Medical Fund for making it possible for me to be able to present my work.