22 August 2022
Sally Lowell is a developmental and stem cell biologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK. “My group is interested in how cells build embryos and tissues, and how we can control the behaviour of these cells in culture,” she explained. She is particularly interested in the local ‘conversations’ that cells have when communicating with their neighbours, and how these local interactions can affect their fate within the developing embryo. Sally’s lab is developing tools to ‘listen in’ on the communications between cells. They are also investigating how differences in cell adhesion and tissue morphology can affect this communication.
29 July 2022
Holly Shiels is based at the University of Manchester, UK, where her lab investigates the interplay between environment and cardiac physiology. They are currently working on the tolerance of fishes to hypoxia and to changes in temperature, as well as the effects of microplastics and crude oil on cardiac health. This latter research area also relates to broader concerns about air pollution, since crude oil contains polyaromatic hydrocarbons, which are the same molecules that form a ‘corona’ around particulate matter in the air we breathe.
24 May 2022
Improving the sustainability of research labs and scientific conferences is crucial given the threat of climate change, and the recent advent of remote meetings has helped bring this issue to the forefront. In response to this, we launched our Sustainable Conferencing Initiative in October 2020 to offer guidance and support on the sustainability of events. Viktoria Lamprinaki, our Sustainability Officer, recently attended two meetings to discuss this initiative and to meet with others working in the field of sustainability.
10 March 2022
On 28 February 2022, our Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM) journal team attended the first Rare Diseases Conference at the Francis Crick Institute, London. This hybrid meeting was organised by Professor Veronica Kinsler, Professor John Achermann, Professor Uta Griesenbach and Professor David Rees. Around 100 attendees gathered in person at the Crick, with more joining the proceedings online.
14 February 2022
Four of The Company of Biologists’ journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology and Disease Models & Mechanisms – offer Travelling Fellowships of up to £3,000 to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers wishing to make collaborative visits to other laboratories. Here, we explain what makes our Travelling Fellowships such a great opportunity.
10 August 2022
Steve Royle is based at the Centre for Mechanochemical Cell Biology, Warwick Medical School, where his team is investigating the molecular mechanisms that underpin two important cellular processes: membrane trafficking and mitosis. “We’re interested in the nuts and bolts of how these key processes work,” Steve explained.
6 July 2022
Emily Simmons, our first intern able to work in the office since the start of the pandemic, recounts her experience.
1 April 2022
Working together with organisers from the research community, The Company of Biologists runs Workshops that bring together leading experts and early-career researchers from a range of scientific backgrounds, making these meetings an ideal setting for the exchange of ideas and the beginnings of fruitful collaborations. Previous Workshops have covered topics right across the scope of our journals, and we are now seeking proposals for Workshops to run in 2024. Here, we explain why organising a Workshop with us is such a great opportunity.
9 March 2022
The 2022 Biophysical Society (BPS) meeting took place from 19-23 February and was the first in-person exhibition any of our journal teams have attended since the pandemic began. Familiar routines began to come back to us as we shipped our trusty booth to San Francisco and planned for flights. New procedures also became evident, such as the antigen tests required for international travel.
10 February 2022
Here at The Company of Biologists, we are passionate about advocating for early-career researchers (ECRs) and improving their visibility. To support this, our three community sites – FocalPlane, the Node and preLights – have come together to organise an online panel event focussed on ways ECRs can promote themselves.
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