“Our students are our engine-room,” commented Liggins Institute Director Professor Wayne Cutfield in his opening remarks at this year’s student Research Day event. “Today is our opportunity to acknowledge your contribution.”
Research Day is a fixture on the Institute’s annual calendar when all postgraduate students present a snapshot of their research to their peers and members of the Institute.
This year, first-year PhD students had three minutes and one slide to capture their audience’s attention and convey a clear understanding of their project. More senior students gave a seven minute presentation followed by three minutes of audience questions.
The Institute’s Academic Director Associate Professor Mark Vickers opened and closed the day’s proceedings. He observed that the day presented opportunities for students to develop and test skills they would need in their future careers: presenting their work and its importance at international scientific meetings or explaining their concepts and discoveries to non-scientific audiences.
He highlighted the achievements of Liggins postgraduate students over the past year: four MSc students had achieved first class Honours while all six PhD completions had required only minor thesis corrections. In addition, students had presented at local and international conferences with great success, picking up a number of prizes and awards. Notably, Dr Ben Albert won the Young Investigator Award at the recent joint conference of the Australasian Paediatric Endocrine Group and the Asia Pacific Paediatric Endocrine Society and 2013 graduate Dr Deborah Harris received one of the five University of Auckland Vice-Chancellor’s Best Doctoral Thesis Prizes.
He congratulated all students on the uniformly high standard of the presentations which he said had made the judges’ decisions particularly difficult. Prizes were awarded in each category:
Three minute presentation
1st place: Rachel West [supervisor – Professor Paul Hofman]
“Are there any detrimental effects of subclinical congenital hypothyroidism in infancy?”
2nd place: Jasmine Plows [supervisor - Professor Philip Baker]
“Nutritional supplement preconception and during pregnancy to manage insulin resistance and prevent gestational diabetes in the Leprdb/+
mouse model”
Ten minute presentation
1st place: Dr Ben Albert [supervisor – Professor Wayne Cutfield]
“Fish oil in insulin resistant pregnancy: beneficial to offspring but it must be fresh”
2nd place equal: Malina Doynova [supervisor – Dr Justin O’Sullivan]
“Mitochondrial DNA physically contacts nuclear genes in mammalian cells”
2nd place equal: Kai Yie Tay [supervisor – Dr Anne Jacquiery]
“Effect of preterm birth on cardiac structure in lambs”
Additional annual awards
Liggins Institute Student Leadership Award
- in recognition of a trainee who demonstrates exceptional leadership skills, research excellence, provides guidance and mentorship to others and has volunteered their time for the benefit of the Liggins Institute.
Awarded to Kai Yie Tay
Liggins Institute Research Support Award
- in recognition of those Professional Staff who have provided exemplary research support to investigators of the Liggins Institute.
Awarded to
Colleen Shaw
Liggins Institute Farm
