NEW CELL THERAPY TREATMENT FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS TO BE TRIALLED

Cultured stem cells are to be used for the first time in the UK to treat the common joint condition of osteoarthritis, throwing a potential lifeline to millions of sufferers in the future.

News of a new clinical trial funded by medical research charity Arthritis Research UK and led by Keele researchers, has hit the headlines nationally and internationally. It aims to test the effectiveness of stem cells derived from bone marrow (known as mesenchymal stem cells) at repairing worn cartilage in osteoarthritis of the knee,

The stem cells will be tested against cultured cartilage cells (chondrocytes) which are currently used to repair small areas of cartilage damage, but not osteoarthritis.

A team led by Sally Roberts, Professor of Orthopaedic Research, pictured above, and James Richardson, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, both members of the Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine, are optimistic that the procedure of cartilage regeneration produces sufficient amounts of robust new cartilage cells for the technique to be extended to patients with osteoarthritis.

KEELE RESEARCH IN ROYAL SOCIETY CELEBRATIONS

The Royal Society celebrates its 350th anniversary this year, and Keele researchers took part in a Summer Science Exhibition which opened in London last week.

The Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine's work on iron compounds associated with neurodegenerative diseases featured in the exhibition stand for the national DIAMOND synchrotron facility, of which the Keele team is a regular user. Professor Jon Dobson has received significant funding, including a five-year Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award for his research in this field. The Royal Society has given grant support to twelve research projects led by ISTM members in the last decade, and over 25 travel awards to enable ISTM's research to be presented at conferences throughout the world.

Pictured are, from left, Professor Jon Dobson, ISTM, Mary Finnegan, PhD student and Dr Joanna Collingwood, ISTM honorary research fellow and designer of the exhibits.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS SUMMER SCHOOL

Twenty-one PhD students from all over the world arrived at Keele this week for an international summer school on environmental politics and policy, funded by the European Consortium for Political Research.

The ECPR PhD summer school, convened by Dr Sherilyn MacGregor and Dr Hannes Stephan, is a high profile event in environmental social science and it is the third time it has been hosted at Keele.

There are nine invited guest speakers from outside Keele, plus two from the University (Dr Brian Doherty and Professor Andy Dobson, pictured), who are internationally-known experts on various aspects of environmental politics and policy, including Jacob Park, Green Mountain College, USA/Visiting Research Fellow, Oxford University, and Michael Jacobs, who was the Special Advisor to Gordon Brown on climate policy.

LATIN AMERICAN FORUM OF COMPUTER MUSIC

Professor Rajmil Fischman, Music, was one of the international guests at the 1st Latin American Forum of Computer Music in Lima, Peru, sponsored by French Regional Cooperation for Andean Countries, the Peruvian North American Cultural Institute and the Goethe Institute.

Professor Fischman, pictured, presented a paper and performed his audiovisual work ¿Te Acuerdas Hijo? (Do You Remember Son?). The paper, entitled From Time to Space: Incorporation of Visual Means, discussed the convergence of sound and image in the creative output of musicians and visual artists as a result of developments in sound recording and the moving image; elaborating on the strategies adopted by musicians and including examples from the repertoire, as well as Professor Fischman's own output. The Forum was featured on Peruvian national television, including an interview with Professor Fischman, who was also invited to participate in the Music and Identity - Composer's Portfolio cycle of conferences at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, the oldest academic institution in South America.
 
The visit was the latest in a number of invitations, which include the delivery of two papers and the performance of ¿Te Acuerdas Hijo? at Visible Sounds, International Conference on the Inter-relationships between Music, the Visual Arts and the Performance Arts, Jerusalem and a lecture and a concert of his works at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queens University, Belfast.

POSTGRADUATE STUDENT'S WORK RECEIVES WORLDWIDE EXPOSURE

A continuous, 28-minute mix of Music postgraduate student Robert Ratcliffe's work was selected for broadcast during RadiaLx 2010, Portugal's International Festival of Radio Art. The three day event featured more than 100 international artists and Robert's radio programme, which included a variety of hybrid musical works created during his PhD in composition, was placed at the opening of the festival.

His series of electronic miniatures entitled 'Phoenix' were also selected for performance at the Australasian Computer Music Conference in Canberra. These were programmed during the main concert schedule and also included in an 'iPerformance' concert. Robert's electronic work 'Phoenix 5' was selected as part of the 60x60 'Order of Magnitude Mix' at Congress 2010 in Canada. Over the last six months his works have been performed in 12 different countries.

RESEARCH GRANTS

Dr Jim Middleton, Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine (ISTM), has been awarded two grants totalling £78,000 by the Institute of Orthopaedics. One award, from the Beryl May Taylor Research Fund, is for a project titled "New knowledge concerning cancer metastatis" and the second, from the Rheumatology Trust Fund, for a project titled "Chemokines and the route of leukocyte transendothelial migration".

Dr Dave Furness, ISTM, has been awarded £30,000 by the Henry Smith's (KC) Estate charity fund for a project titled "a novel strategy for preventing age-related hearing loss using cochlear fibrocyte replacement".

Dr Paul Roach, ISTM, has been awarded £10,220 by NESTA for a project titled "Listening in on cellular communication – what can biology tell us?"

Dr Renata Stenka, Research Institute for Public Policy and Management, has been awarded £7,363 by the British Academy for a project titled "lobbying in the international accounting standard-setting process: Evidence from scope of consolidation projects".

MAKING RESEARCH COUNT

Making Research Count presented two recent events as part of its annual programme of research based seminars.

The first, addressing Social Work Management, was presented by Professor Jane Aldgate, OBE, from the Open University, and considered current research into effective management strategies and comparative studies between models in England and Scotland. 

The second event was a full day programme of presentations by Dr Simon Evans from UWE, Dr Mo Ray and Dr Bernadette Bartlam, both from Keele. The speakers discussed research into the impact of the built environment, retirement communities and life history interventions on promoting active ageing.  Both seminars generated a great deal of interest among practitioners and managers. The latter, with over 60, delegates being one of MRC's larger events.

ALUMNI HOMECOMING

Around 450 Keele alumni returned to Keele for Homecoming last weekend, with more than 180 staying overnight in familiar on-campus rooms in Barnes and Horwood. The returning alumni enjoyed live music and a barbecue in the Outback, spooky tours with Matt Hicks (2003) and a classic night in the Union, culminating in the legendary Keele disco, featuring all-time favourite Keele tunes. Recent graduates were well represented – with 25% of those attending having left in 2008 or 2009. They enjoyed meeting friends and sharing experiences of Life after Keele.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Keele graduate Andy Quin and the University's Fairlight Music Computer, have provided the incidental music for Quest, a new seven part series by Central Television, spotlighting the work of six Midlands universities. The first programme was transmitted on 18 July 1985.