Budding IMB life scientists join world’s best at prestigious US courses

Two postgraduate students from The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience will learn from some of the world’s best scientific minds after securing places at prestigious US laboratories.

Third-year developmental biology PhD students Elanor Wainwright and Kathryn McClelland, both supervised by IMB Division Head Professor Peter Koopman, beat thousands of student and postdoctoral applicants worldwide to secure places for 2013.

IMB Director (Research) Professor Jenny Stow said Elanor and Kathryn were excellent students.

“Their acceptance into these highly competitive international courses is proof of their hard work and scientific potential within the field,” she said.

Ms Wainwright is one of only 14 people accepted into the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Mouse Development, Stem Cells and Cancer course in New York from 5-25 June.

Ms McClelland will join 22 other 23 participants at the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Embryology: Concepts and Techniques in Modern Developmental Biology course in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, from 1 June to 14 July.

Both courses include lectures and practical laboratory sessions for six days each week and one-on-one mentoring from leading scientists, including Nobel Prize winners.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is at the forefront of advances in life sciences research and is internationally renowned for training some world leaders in the field today.

Ms Wainwright has been investigating the signals underlying the formation of gonads and kidneys in mice.

“To me, the development of an embryo is one of the most fascinating phenomena,” she said.

“I think that the journey of a single cell, which divides, signals, differentiates, changes shape, migrates and gives rise to a living organism, is truly amazing.

“Studying the mouse is a powerful model to understand fundamental human development and discover the basis of human birth defects and cancer, and it’s this interest that motivates me in my own research.

“At this course, I will work with some of the world’s brightest and most motivated students in my field and have international leaders teaching me every day.”

Ms McClelland’s said her research was focused on translating developmental mechanisms from mouse to human and adapting technologies for use in the mouse model from other model systems, such as zebra fish.

As part of the course, Ms McClelland will be exposed to a wide variety of developmental systems including intensively studying genetic model systems and will be introduced to a wide range of emerging systems, including locally available marine organisms, that help fill in the evolutionary history of animal diversity.

“This is a course that everyone hears about in undergrad and wants to take part in,” Ms McClelland said.

“Woods Hole will give me the opportunity to focus on science and expand my knowledge and experience in working with a range of techniques, organisms and concepts I have only ever seen in textbooks.

“I am excited to explore the field and think beyond my project with some of the world’s best scientists and hopefully it will help me determine what future developmental challenges I want to pursue in postdoctoral research.”

Media: Gemma Ward, Acting IMB Communications Officer on 0439 651 107 or (07) 3346 2155, g.ward1@uq.edu.au