RVC News
New veterinary business qualification on the horizon
Posted 23rd December 2011
The RVC is currently working with the Open University to explore the potential for an innovative postgraduate qualification in veterinary business. The one-year programme would be delivered mainly by distance over a 12-month period, and supported by 5 face-to-face contextualized learning workshops hosted by the RVC. Designed to help veterinary businesses deal with the increasingly competitive veterinary business landscape, the programme will focus on managing organizations and change, managing people, marketing and finance. Upon successful completion of the programme, candidates would be awarded a ‘Postgraduate Certificate in Veterinary Business’, equivalent to stage I of a full MBA (Masters of Business Administration).
Once development work has been completed, the programme would be open to veterinarians, veterinary nurses, animal health professionals and those working within the broader veterinary sector who aspire to (or currently hold) a management role. Candidates will need to have an honours degree (or equivalent), along with relevant work experience.
The RVC is currently seeking expressions of interest for participation in the pilot cohort, which could potentially commence in spring 2012. If you would like to register your interest or would like to get further details, please contact Professor Colette Henry at chenry@rvc.ac.uk.
TARC Opening – 2nd December 2011
The RVC was extremely proud to welcome Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal to open the TaRC building. This facility enables our students to be taught within an environment that is all about advanced scientific discovery and first class research. The building houses the engine of academic enquiry and is a wonderful space where our academic community generates new insights into diseases that affect both humans and animals. The centre allows the College to tie together the various threads we have around the study of illnesses that result from lifestyle in humans and animals, such as those associated with age or genetic disorders. The college collaborates with the research hub that is the London scientific research community and we are extremely well placed to carry out the work in conjunction with human medical research groups and bring the veterinary perspective to the understanding of disease.
The building offers new opportunities, both nationally and internationally. Princess Anne was shown around the new facility and met members of the research staff and PhD students who are currently working on lifestyle research including conditions such as obesity, diabetics, chronic kidney disease and arthritis as well as those with genetic roots. She also had the opportunity to meet Kay McAllister, our current SU President who introduced her to students who are living in the new accommodation blocks and are using the new TaRC facilities. This is the 14th time the Princess Royal has visited the RVC and she was delighted to see the progress the College has made over the years. If you have not had a chance to come and visit the new centre yet, please pop in when you are next in the area, it is an impressive building!
RVC Graduation Ceremonies 2011
Posted 10th August 2011
Complete photographs of the RVC Graduation Ceremonies on the 20th of July 2011 can be found here:
https://stream2.rvc.ac.uk/rvc4life/Graduation_20th_July_2011/
You can now purchase copies of a DVD of the 2011 graduation ceremonies. Please email Vicki Laing if you are interested.
Global interest in Distance Learning Graduation Ceremony
Posted 20th June 2011
In the beautiful March sunshine, the Distance Learning Programme was delighted to see a number of their students graduate at the University of London International Programme’s Graduation Ceremony at the Barbican Centre, London. The 2,600 attendees were welcomed by HRH The Princess Royal, Chancellor, University of London and the event was broadcast as a webcast, so that friends and families of the 761 students graduating could view the special event ‘live’ as they walked across the stage. The event was broadcast through 35,000 individual computers, which translates into an audience of around 105,000 individual viewers globally!
Philip Robinson, the programme’s top student, also received the esteemed 150th Anniversary Prize. Phillip and Mari Espetvedt, who both received the award of MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health, with Distinction, were also invited to the Princess Royal’s Student Reception.
The graduates pictured (from left to right) are: Carlo Georges (Luxembourg), Philip Robinson (Northern Ireland), Elizabeth Johnson (England) and Mari Espetvedt (Norway). Three were awarded the MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health, with Elizabeth Johnson, awarded the MSc in Livestock Health and Production.
If you would like to view the webcast of the event, which features interviews of both staff and students, in addition to both morning and afternoon ceremonies, please view the below web link:
http://www.flyonthewall.com/FlyBroadcast/londoninternational.ac.uk/graduation2011/
Official opening of the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital
Posted 17th June 2011
The RVC officially opened the doors of the newly re-furbished Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital on Wednesday 18th May 2011.
The hospital has been upgraded to create a 21st century primary care practice that offers the highest quality first-referral treatment for pets and their owners - from dental health care to life-saving operations.
The Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital is highly competitive as a companion animal practice with state-of-the-art facilities and up-to-the-minute advice from students and staff working in a leading vet school.
The transformation of the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital has been made possible through a substantial donation of £1m from the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust. This contributed towards the £1.5m refurbishment of the hospital which has been renamed in honour of the charity's benefactor, Jean Sainsbury.
The Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital now boasts:
- five refitted consultation rooms
- a dedicated dental suite
- a completely refitted digital radiography suite
- state-of-the-art surgical facilities
- a dedicated ward for 'exotic' pets
- expanded isolation facilities (to minimise likelihood of spread of infectious diseases)
- complete refurbishment of seminar room facilities for students, new office accommodation and major improvements to living quarters for the veterinary nursing team.
Graham Milligan, Clinical Services Director at the Royal Veterinary College, said: "The incredible generosity of the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust has resulted in a modern veterinary hospital dedicated not only to caring for the pets of North London residents, but which also plays a key role in training our students. This is a fitting addition to the legacy of Jean, who dedicated her life to philanthropy and cared so deeply about the health of animals".
To view a copy of the commemorative booklet click here
Opening of the Regional Veterinary Center in Dorset
Posted 16th June 2011
The RVC has opened a new Regional Veterinary Centre in collaboration with Kingston Maurward College in Dorset to provide an important opportunity for RVC students to gain hands-on farm animal experience in the field.
Over the next year 55 students in their final year will visit the centre in groups of 3-4 to develop farm animal clinical decision making skills and population medicine. Students keen on gaining more experience can elect to do up to six extra weeks of farm animal training.
The new centre is ideally situated in the heart of the south west, with well-established links to the livestock industry.
"As well as covering day-one skills, we will aim to cover topics related to modern farm animal practice, in particular population medicine." said Dr Nick Bell - Lecturer in livestock extension services at the Royal Veterinary College - "These students will have a real advantage in easing the transition between final year and the first year in practice."
"Being based in Dorset increases exposure to livestock but also allows us to build partnerships with progressive veterinary practices in the area. Overall, this will help us remain in touch with the needs of the vets and livestock industry on the ground while improving the quality of farm animal teaching. This has to b
e a good development for all involved." added Dr Bell.
Running in parallel to this is a junior and senior clinical scholarship programme, which will support newly qualified vets looking to develop their post-graduate skills, knowledge and qualification.
Kingston Maurward College Principal, Clare Davison, said: “We are very proud to be working with the RVC and have very positive expectations of what all students will gain from this collaboration.”
The partnership was marked by a lunch event at the 17th century Kingston Maurward House, with forty local farmers and vets invited to celebrate the launch.
This is the second regional veterinary centre opened by the RVC, with the first based in South Wales.
Changes at Camden you may not have been aware of...
Posted 16th June 2011
There have been a lot of building developements at both campuses over the last year or so. Camden has seen it's fair share of change, from the addition of a mezzanine level to the Dissection room, the opening of a student gym and the Haxby Bar.
On March 10th 2011, students of the RVC and friends and family of alumnus Don Haxby came together to christen our newly refurbished “Haxby Bar”. With many thanks for the generosity of the late and great Don Haxby’s family our Student Union is now the proud, enthusiastic owner and operator of a wonderful new bar. It is named for Don, one of our more colourful alumni, and has been converted from the games room. It is a fantastic facility and is already attracting the (very) enthusiastic custom of our hard-working and hard-partying students in Camden. .
You can have a look around the new dissection room with the eMedia unit's series of panoramas. You will need Quicktime to view these.
Updates to buildings at Hawkshead
Posted 16th June 2011
There has been and still is a lot of building work going on at Hawkshead. Below are a few of the more recent buildings:
TaRC
These images show the front of the new TaRC (Teaching and Research Centre) building which contains the new reception desk (below), several learning spaces, new laboratories and offices.
New accommodation
Work is still ongoing on the Northumberland Hall replacement scheme. We managed to get some pictures of the interior of a nearly completed flat.
Here's a picture of the work that's still ongoing. You can view the plans for what the new village will look like
.
Hospitality suites
Work has very almost completed on the hospitality suites which will be used for conferences and for CPD; here's a picture of the 'Red room' and the refectory and hospitality suite building
You said... we did!
Posted 31st January 2011
Those of you have graduated in the last ten years or so will be well aware that feedback forms, like those you religiously filled in to evaluate your lecturers and modules when you were at College, pursue you even after you start work. We send you feedback forms six months after graduation, when the course is still pretty fresh in your minds, and then again three to five years later, when you may have more sober reflections on the value of some of the material that seemed so obscure as you struggled to keep awake in the Great Hall. We also seek feedback from the employers of our new graduates.
Do we take any notice of all the data we accumulate, and act on it? We certainly do, as anyone who has kept abreast of the development of the new BVetMed curriculum will tell you. A brief glance at the latest feedback, from the 2009 graduates, reveals a catalogue of issues that we have addressed.
For example, Molecular Biology was a bugbear with successive generations of BVetMed graduates. Not for the class that will graduate in 2012 - it no longer occupies the first term of the course, but instead elements of it are taught, in context, where required. Agribusiness was the opposite case - graduates of 2009, as in previous years, didn’t think they were offered enough tuition in it. We now employ the only Agricultural Economist in a UK vet school, Jonathan Rushton, and this will be an increasingly important theme in the BVetMed’s Population Medicine and Veterinary Public Health Strand.
Other concerns that were highlighted by the 2009 graduates but which have informed the development of the new curriculum include the desire for greater emphasis on exotics/wildlife (our first Professor in this field took up post in January); and more Farm Animal Practice (“tracking” rotations in the new curriculum offer an extra six weeks of FA for those who choose it.
Looking at trends in feedback over the last few years, the number of graduates who feel competent in carrying out simple surgical procedures has increased dramatically - you said you didn’t feel competent, so we developed the clinical attachment at the Dogs Trust, and set up the UK’s first veterinary Clinical Skills Centre, to meet those needs.
The RVC will not always be able to respond so positively to your feedback - resources always constrain what is possible - but we do listen, and everything you tell us feeds into the development of the curriculum, and of the College more widely. It may not directly help you, but it is of enormous benefit to the generations that follow. So to all of you who have so helpfully filled out and returned feedback form - a warm “thank you!”
Paul Probyn, Head of Academic Development
New year, new Principal
Posted 31st January 2011
The RVC is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Stuart Reid as its new Principal.
Professor Reid started at the RVC on 1st January and joins us from the University of Glasgow, where he was Professor of Veterinary Informatics and Epidemiology and Head of the School of Veterinary Medicine
Professor Reid began his career in 1987 as an Assistant Veterinary Surgeon before joining the University of Glasgow as a Clinical Research Scholar in 1988. In 1992 he assumed the role of Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the University and was promoted to Senior Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in 1994. He was appointed to the first joint Chair between the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow in 1997, as Professor of Veterinary Informatics and Epidemiology. In 2004 he became Associate Dean of Research and, in 2005, he became Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow.
"I am delighted and honoured to be joining the Royal Veterinary College at this important time" said Professor Reid. "The RVC has an enviable heritage and is a world leader in terms of its innovation and leadership in veterinary education, research and clinical service. I recognise that I am enormously privileged to be moving from a great School to a great College and I look forward to building on the successes achieved by RVC under Principal McKellar at the same time as rising to the challenges of a new funding environment."
Professor Quintin McKellar was appointed Principal in August 2004 and leaves the RVC to take up the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire. We are delighted to announce that he was awarded a CBE in the 2011 New Year’s honours list for ‘services to Science’
Before leaving Quintin wrote that he would miss the RVC deeply, he mentioned that the RVC community embraces three very strong characteristics of which he is particularly proud. RVC staff and students and alumni are almost universally hard working, they are greatly innovative and are a friendly and caring community. He believes the College will continue to progress and enhance its leading reputation.
Chairman of the RVC Council, The Right Hon the Baroness Shephard of Northwold, added: "Great strides have been made under Professor McKellar’s dynamic leadership, and I am sure I speak for all at the College when I say we will be sad to see him go. We welcome Professor Stuart Reid, and firmly believe that his experience and distinguished academic record will assist the RVC in strengthening its position over the coming years."
We hope that many of you get to meet Professor Reid at the various different conferences and functions in the near future and join with us in welcoming him to the RVC community.
RVC announces graduation of first cohort of Graduate Diploma Veterinary Nurses
Posted 25th January 2011
The RVC is delighted to announce the graduation of their first cohort of qualified veterinary nurses completing the Graduate Diploma in Professional and Clinical Veterinary Nursing. Eight of the students graduated at the Graduation Ceremony in November. These veterinary nurses are now entitled to use the post-nominals GradDipVN.
Back row from left to right: Nicola Doyle, Danielle Banks (nee Coleman), Perdi Welsh (course director), Susie Hunt, Angela Croft, Julia Hurley. Front row from left to right: Henrietta Bedford, Sarah Rogers, Charlotte Lea-Atkin. Also graduated but absent from the photo: Hayley Carne. |
The Graduate Diploma is aimed at qualified veterinary nursing practitioners who wish to develop their professional and clinical competence and gain a recognized post-qualification university award.
The course aims to foster higher level professional and clinical veterinary nursing skills with an emphasis on critical thinking by combining theoretical knowledge with practical application.
Veterinary nurses who successfully complete this two-year (part-time) course will receive a Graduate Diploma in Professional and Clinical Veterinary Nursing from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London and are entitled to use the post-nominals GradDipVN
This distance-learning programme is delivered in an interactive online mode via the RVC’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This means that students do not have to take time off work and travel to attend regular sessions at college. They can learn actively, acquiring new knowledge and skills, by participating in group discussion, carrying out online tasks and collaborating with a small group of other students to share experiences. For each module, a subject specialist is assigned, who acts as a tutor, providing course material, helping students find their way through the course and setting them a series of collaborative tasks and assignments which address the defined learning objectives. A strong emphasis on the analysis and discussion of real-life situations and a diverse range of teaching strategies is used to ensure that by the end of the course, students will have developed the skills to influence the provision of health-care to animal patients, contribute to the development of the veterinary nursing profession and become successful lifelong learners.
More information about the course is available at: www.rvc.ac.uk/VNdiploma/ or for enquiries, please email vnschool@rvc.ac.ukNew refectory is now open!
Posted 25th January 2011
The new refectory is now open! It opened on the 17th of January and, as you can see below, is more modern and offers more space than the old refectory.
The new food counters.
A view through the new refectory
Work is ongoing to the hospitality suites which will be above the refectory - you can view the progress on a live webcam. You can also check out what the TaRC looks like while you're at it with the TaRC webcam.
Northumberland Hall Replacement scheme update
Posted 2nd November 2010
Northumberland Hall has now been completely demolished. You can view a fly-through of what the new accommodation will look like, alternatively have a look at the RVC estates website to follow progress on the building work. You can even view a live webcam and watch the building in progress!
Image of demolition starting...
Demolition complete!
RVC involved in major EU-funded project
Posted 2nd November 2010
The RVC is playing a key role in the development of the NOVICE (Network Of Veterinary ICt in Education) project, which seeks to investigate the role of Web 2.0 technologies (for example, wikis and blogs) in supporting informal, lifelong learning in the veterinary field. The project is led by five EU founding institutions; RVC, Utrecht, Hannover, Budapest and Bucharest.
Here at the RVC, we have held several focus groups to explore students’ and practitioners’ use and opinions of virtual vs. face-to-face professional communities and have administered a wider scale questionnaire to identify needs and requirements for an online veterinary professional network. This research has shown that there is much interest in a free online community that would overcome traditional barriers such as time, location and cost, and form a safe environment to share thoughts and discuss veterinary issues.
You can now join the professional network at: www.noviceproject.eu !! The network has been developed in elgg, an open source social networking platform by Neil Forrest (RVC consultant) and the NOVICE team. It is available to veterinary students, veterinarians, veterinary educationalists and ICT educationalists from across the EU.
The project is funded by the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme.Hawkshead campus improvement works
Posted 1st July 2010
Northumberland Hall Replacement Scheme
Sadly the time has come to say goodbye to Northumberland Hall. The accommodation and refectory in Northumberland Hall have served the College well but with the planned works, the largest ever capital investment the RVC has undertaken, students will have access to much more modern lodgings.
The new student village will have 185 student rooms in groupings of six within either three or four storey twin pavilion blocks. A kitchen - lounge area will also be provided to each grouping. The pavilion blocks will be arranged around a central ‘cloistered’ garden. Each study bedroom will be provided with an en-suite bathroom and will have full internet connectivity. In addition, a new refectory will be constructed.
The buildings works are well under way and are set to take around 18 months, with the majority of the rooms and new refectory being available from Easter 2011. The remaining rooms will be available by September, following the demolition of the existing refectory.
Read more about this project and see further pictures here.
Teaching and Resource Centre (TaRC)
With the new Equine Referral Hospital now open and running the Sefton unit is being demolished to make way for the new Teaching and Research Centre (TaRC), which will be sited in front of the existing Eclipse building. The TaRC project will provide a new reception, museum displays, several laboratories, offices and a spacious post graduate ‘write up’ area.
The laboratory space is multi-functional and adaptable to allow for potential future changes of use. The group working spaces are also open and informal and are intended to promote a cross pollination of ideas. The construction period will last approximately 12 months, with completion due in late Spring 2011.
Read more about this project and see further pictures here.
Equine Referral Hospital
The RVC has recently opened a new state of the art Equine Referral Hospital (ERH). This very exciting development relocates and updates the Sefton facilities, creating a new, more cohesive, hospital. There is a carefully thought-through flow of horses and people to maximise the Hospital’s value as a space for top-end referral work, research and teaching and learning.
The hub of this hospital is the remodelled reception area and a new theatre building extends from this hub. The two operating theatres are serviced by three induction and recovery boxes, accessed by an intermediate preparation area with overhead transfer gantries to move horses from one space to another. Both theatres are also equipped with video recording.
The previous adult ICU stables have been combined with a new neonatal intensive unit which can accommodate two mares and their foals, to create a dedicated ICU corridor in one of the hospital barns. This creates a space that has strictly zoned biosecurity from the rest of the hospital.
See panoramas of the new development below (requires Quicktime)
 ERH - Exterior 1 |
 ERH - Interior 1 |
The redevelopment work also updated the hospital’s exercise facilities by providing an all weather arena as well as a trot-up and lunge area.
Read more about this project and see pictures here.
Distance learning
Posted 1st July 2010
The RVC is one of a family of 19 world-class Colleges and acclaimed Institutes forming the University of London External System. The External System is the world’s oldest provider of degrees through distance and flexible learning. Here we detail two recent news stories from the External System.
Graduation
Graduates from all over the world attended the University of London External System's 2010 Graduation Ceremony on Monday, 15th March at the Barbican Centre in London.
More than 700 graduates from 76 External System study programmes were presented to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, Professor Geoffrey Crossick. These included two graduates from the RVC’s Distance Learning Programme, Mrs Gabriele (Germany) and Mr Andrianatus Maseke (Namibia), who both graduated with the MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health with Merit.
For the first time, the Graduation Ceremony was broadcast live on the internet and it is now available as a video-on-demand at: http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/graduationwebcast
Approximately 7,500 people watched the webcast live and in the two weeks after the ceremony, itwas accessed more than 70,000 times.
Inspirational video
The External System has been working with colleges providing academic direction for the University’s external degrees to produce a series of videos. These videos are aimed at showcasing the academic excellence of colleges supporting the degrees. Each video focuses on a current topic in some way relevant to an External System degree and which has topical interest. They are designed to inspire people to study for one of the degrees rather than provide a course overview.
The RVC’s first inspiration session is for the Veterinary Epidemiology & Public Health MSc and is given by Professor Katharina Stärk. Professor Stärk discusses the transmission of Q Fever to humans. You can see this video here.
Find out more about distance learning degrees with academic direction provided by RVC on the External System's website.
The Royal Veterinary College unveils The Lightwell, a social learning facility at the Camden campus
Posted 1st July 2010
The new social learning facility will provide an area of focus for the Camden campus and comprises of an extension to the library in a 'Pod' style enclosure with informal seating, terracing and a coffee facility below.
The Lightwell will benefit students at the RVC by providing them with an area to interact and study, highlighting the College’s commitment to student learning and creating a unique student experience.
The Lightwell was officially opened by Sir Alan Langlands, the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England on 21st May. Over 100 guests attended the launch event, which included the RVC’s Chairman of Council, The Rt Hon The Baroness Shephard of Northwold.
The event gave guests the chance to see The Lightwell for the first time, presenting it in the greater context of the College and allowing members of staff at the RVC to showcase the College’s important work.
Students were also allowed to use the facility for the first time and used new RVC laptops, which had all the programmes needed for their studies preloaded. Students can now check these new laptops out of the library and take them into the pod to work on.
To introduce the event, Professor Quintin McKellar, Principal, spoke about the Camden campus and the College, including its illustrious history, heritage and remarkable alumni, such as Professor Walter Plowright who passed away earlier this year.
Professor McKellar said, “With this development we are building a holistic campus and community that will have a beneficial impact for students and their learning, as well as equipping them for future endeavours outside of the College.”
He concluded, “The RVC is excelling in all of its prinicipal activities which was shown at the Lightwell opening event. We have strength-in-depth across all endeavours, stimulating a vibrant academic community that ultimately benefits the students.”
Left to right: Professor Quintin McKellar, The Rt Hon The Baroness Shephard of Northwold and Sir Alan Langlands.
UCL-RVC graduate internship programme
Posted 1st July 2010
150 young graduates will get the opportunity to work in knowledge intensive companies across London and the south east following the announcement that a joint bid by UCL and the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has been awarded £240,000 of Government funding as part of a national scheme designed to help young people into work.
UCL will administer some 115 internships in the digital industries, advanced manufacturing, engineering and financial services, while the RVC will deliver around 35 life science internship placements. In line with all of the HEFCE-supported work experience schemes, places on the UCL-RVC will be available to graduates of all universities, with priority being given to those that graduated last year and have yet to find stable employment and for those graduating in 2010.
The paid internship placements will help recent graduates to develop vital employability skills, through both work based learning and skills training sessions, and allow both small and large companies to preserve novel research, development and commercial projects during the economic downturn.
The award will help both institutions to build on their existing programmes. UCL already planned to offer 50 work experience places this summer following from their successful scheme, first run last year. The grant similarly allows RVC and The London BioScience Innovation Centre to continue to grow its reputation as an employer by helping life science graduates make the transition from higher education to the commercial bioscience sector through work experience placements and skills development.
Jim Gazzard, Enterprise and Technology Executive, at the RVC: "Recent graduates have much to offer knowledge intensive companies. In our experience these companies are looking to recruit talented graduates but are restricted in their ability to do so in the current economic climate. Graduate internship schemes help to solve this problem, allowing companies to continue to explore exciting commercial projects and graduates to gain a foothold in the job market while developing essential employability skills.”
To date the RVC has received over 1,000 applications for 60 internship placements on its successful ORBIS internship scheme. This shows the significant demand from graduates seeking careers in leading bioscience and bio-veterinary companies.
Mr Gazzard continues: “We look forward to working in partnership with UCL to deliver these additional internships which will help vital parts of the UK’s knowledge economy during these challenging times".
For more information on the programme, see the Enterprise website. If you wish to apply to become an intern, please read further details here then scroll to the bottom of the page to register. If you work for a Bioscience company, you can register to host an intern. The closing date for applications is the end of July, 2010.
Veterinary Nobel Laureate to speak at RVC
We are pleased to announce that Professor Peter Doherty will be visiting the RVC on Monday 22nd February to give a seminar to students entitled “From Vet School to Stockholm - Hooked on Discovery”. Professor Doherty is the only Veterinary Nobel Laureate and is an Immunologist.
The Seminar is primarily aimed at Veterinary Undergraduates who might be inspired to consider a research career, however Postgraduates, Alumni and Staff are also welcome to attend. It will be taking place in the NLT at Hawkshead at will commence at 5.15pm, with a videolink to LT1 at Camden. It will be followed by a drinks reception at Hawkshead.
Tickets are limited and are therefore being allocated on a strictly first-come, first-served basis, and you can reserve your place via Elayne Hardman in the Principal’s office by e-mail ehardman@rvc.ac.uk, or on 01707 666961. Please indicate whether you would like to attend from Hawkshead or Camden
RVC scientist in the news:
An RVC scientist made the front page of The Daily Telegraph with his research looking into predicting who will benefit the most from exercise based on the human genome.
An international team of researchers from 14 institutions, led by James Timmons and Claude Bouchard of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC) and the Center for Healthy Ageing, University of Copenhagen, has peered into the human genome and found a way to predict who will benefit the most from exercise.
Their latest work builds on the current belief among researchers that one of the best predictors of health and longevity is our body’s ability to take in and use oxygen during maximum exercise. The more blood our heart can pump and the more oxygen our muscles can use, the less our risk of early disease and death.
They say that’s why aerobic exercise is so important. All the brisk walking, running, biking, swimming and endurance training we undertake as a society can increase our body’s ability to take in and use oxygen. Scientists call the maximum volume of oxygen our bodies use during exercise “VO2 max.” The higher our VO2 max, the more resistant we are to illness.
Bouchard and Timmons noticed a problem, however, and brought together a team to address it: although aerobic exercise can and does increase VO2 max in some people, exercise doesn’t work equally for everyone. Some people who exercise experience little or no increased VO2 max. Aerobic exercise for those people may not help ward off heart disease and other potential ailments.
According to Bouchard, executive director of PBRC, using lifestyle changes to prevent common diseases - such as starting an exercise routine - would be better targeted if healthcare specialists knew ahead of time who would benefit. Bouchard and his colleagues have now moved closer to that goal. They have just published a comprehensive look at a group of genes that modulate the increase in VO2 max due to aerobic exercise.
To read more about this research please see the press release.
Beating the barrier for good - PrioCam opens at the London Bioscience Innovation Centre
Innovative biotechnology company, PrioCam, a company born out of the Royal Veterinary College (RVC), has developed unique technology, which enables the production of novel antibodies that can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and facilitate the entry of drugs into the central nervous system (CNS).
The blood-brain barrier is the body’s natural protective mechanism that restricts the free passage of circulating large and small molecules, from the blood into the interstitial space of the brain. PrioCam’s technology will use camelid antibodies to ‘beat’ the blood-brain barrier and transport otherwise non-penetrant pharmaceutical agents to treat disorders of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Based in the London Bioscience Innovation Centre (LBIC), www.lbic.com, a global bioincubation and biotechnology innovation centre, PrioCam is seeking investors keen to share in the development of its receptor-mediated transport technology.
“Our next steps will focus on developing protocols and methods of conjugation for coupling the antibodies to drugs,” says Michael Simonds, director and CEO of PrioCam. “Then we can work with potential partners to improve the neurotherapeutic efficacy of a ‘library’ of drugs that are currently excluded from the brain by the blood-brain barrier mechanism and proceed towards clinical trials.”
Appointment news: Colette Henry appointed as Norbrook Professor of Business and Enterprise
The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has appointed Professor Colette Henry as the Norbrook Professor of Business and Enterprise.
This newly created position, sponsored by Norbrook Laboratories, is the first formal business and enterprise professorship created in a European veterinary school.
Professor Henry will head the new RVC Centre for Veterinary and Bioveterinary Enterprise. She will work alongside RVC Enterprise and the London BioScience Innovation Centre (LBIC) to further develop the College’s teaching and research agendas, both nationally and internationally, across the fields of business and enterprise.
Before joining the RVC, Professor Henry was formally Head of Department of Business Studies and Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Research at Dundalk Institute of Technology. She is currently President of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the UK’s leading network for those involved in the teaching, research and support of entrepreneurship.
RVC4Life News Archive
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