NEW RESEARCHER AWARD FOR KEELE LECTURER

Julie Green, Lecturer in Nursing and affiliate member of the Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences, has been awarded the RCN Research Society Marjorie Simpson New Researchers' award for her PhD project entitled 'Does a patient focus to consultations in chronic venous leg ulcer care improve patient satisfaction and health-related quality of life?'.
 
This annual award recognises excellence in three new researchers who are involved in post-graduate research and was announced at the RCN International Nursing Research Conference in Gateshead. In addition to the Award, the winning researchers were awarded a free place at the RCN International Nursing Research Conference.

KEELE APPRENTICE AMONG REGION'S BEST

A CFM employee who moved from the kitchen to the sports field has been named a finalist in the West Midlands Apprenticeship Awards 2010. Steve Lewis began work at the University in 1982 as a chef in restaurants across campus but changed direction in 2008 and joined the estates team, working on sports field maintenance.

The 44-year-old star apprentice took an NVQ in Sports and Amenities at Reaseheath College, studying alongside teenagers.

The regional winner will be announced on June 18, at an event at the Birmingham Hippodrome, organised by the National Apprenticeship Service. The winners of the apprentice and employer categories will go forward to be judged against the best in England for the National Apprenticeship Awards in London in July.

KEELELINK AWARDS NIGHT

Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning Division hosted their 2nd annual Keelelink Awards Ceremony last week. The evening celebrated the achievements of the Keelelink programme and its projects throughout the year.

The event was attended by more than 190 people, including teachers and pupils from the division's partner schools and colleges, current undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics from Keele. It was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the hard work put in by students, schools and external contacts alike throughout the past year. Pro Vice-Chancellor for Partnerships and Communities, Kevin Mattinson, presented the keynote speech.

Highlights included an exhibition area which showcased projects under the Keelelink umbrella, including subject competitions and science and engineering sessions.  There were also performances from Blurton High School's Samba band, Riff Raff, The Sir William Stanier choir and a dance performance from pupils at St. Dominic's Priory School. In addition, W. Terry Fox, Cheshire's Poet Laureate, gave a reading of his poem 'Read a Book', which he was commissioned to write for the National Year of Reading.

Awards were presented in recognition of Keelelink's outreach work. As well as teachers and pupils from schools and colleges receiving awards, students and academics at the University were also recognised for their contributions to the programme.

RUBY WAX CELEBRATES WITH KEELE

Comedy star Ruby Wax helped Keele Conferences and Events celebrate its 40th anniversary in style at the Academic Venue Show at the Emirates Stadium, London. The team had a themed stand, complete with birthday decorations and complimentary birthday cakes for anyone visiting the show.

The exhibition proved to be a great success. As well as joining in with the celebrations, visitors talked to the sales team at the stand, which resembled the historical rooms of one of their most popular conferencing venues, Keele Hall. Ruby Wax, who attended the show to host a seminar on 'improving your communication skills', visited the stand to celebrate the ruby anniversary and launch the venue's new marketing campaign, 'There's no place like Keele', developed from BBC's talent search for The Wizard of Oz show, Over the Rainbow.  The intention of the campaign is to entice customers to follow the yellow brick road back to Keele.

The picture shows Ruby Wax with Adam Brearley, Andrew Thelwell and Debra Foxley from CFM.

HIGH STANDARDS CONFIRMED FOR RESEARCH USING HUMAN TISSUES

Keele has successfully passed its first audit by the Human Tissue Authority - a government appointed body which oversees storage and use of human tissue for research, patient treatment, teaching and public exhibition.

The Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM) is one of two licence holders at Keele, and was the first to undergo the rigor of a full HTA audit.

The inspection took place in October 2009, with an initial report released in January 2010. Professor Alicia El Haj and Dr Nicholas Forsyth, both of ISTM, hold the licence and hosted the inspection.

They have now received formal notification that the condition of operations under which the ISTM licence practices has passed this examination.

ISTM has been registered under the Human Tissue Act (2004) since its inception and follows clear and respectful standards in all its work with human tissues.

The hallmark of the successful HTA audit further evidences the high quality of biomedical research performed within Keele.

INVITED LECTURE IN VANCOUVER

Dr Sherilyn MacGregor, School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy, recently gave an invited plenary lecture at the Cosmopolis/ Cosmopolitics: Humanities and Citizenship after Neoliberalism conference in Vancouver, Canada.

Her presentation, titled 'Green Politics in the Age of Stupid', was part of a public finale of a five-year, international 'Imagining Citizenship' project in the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

26 May 1995

Sir Stanley Matthews formally opened the new £1/2 million sports hall and all-weather pitch at the Leisure Centre, watched by local and national sporting stars.