Science Cat | Musings of a Regenerative Medicine Scientist and Cat Lover

New paper: using stem cells as mini factories for stroke repair

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020userLeave a comment

It’s (finally) here! The big paper from my PhD titled “Systemic conditioned medium treatment from interleukin-1 primed mesenchymal stem cells promotes recovery after stroke” was just published last week in Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Thanks to my fantastic co-workers who made it possible! It’s open access meaning anyone can read it here without an annoying paywall. To me it represents several years of work, lots of long days, several weekends in the lab and an epic battle…

PhD Examination Process Explained

March 5, 2019userLeave a comment

Oh geez, I haven’t updated my blog since June. The reason is that I’ve been really busy finishing my PhD. It’s a rather drawn-out process which confused many of my friends and family. After I handed in at the end of September lots of people were excitedly asking if I’d finished. Then I had to…

Poster Video Abstract

June 20, 2018June 24, 2018userLeave a comment

I’m really excited to have been selected to present a poster at the University of Manchester Postgraduate Summer Research Showcase again. It’s such a special event because it brings together postgraduates from all disciplines to share their work. As a PhD student, it’s easy to forget about the breath of research being done at the…

Public Engagement Update

May 20, 2018userLeave a comment

Just before Christmas, I was fortunate to be awarded an Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF) public engagement grant from the Wellcome Trust to develop some new activities to help explain my lab’s stroke research. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been working really hard to get everything ready for our first event in June.…

Caturday Science: Catnip

May 12, 2018May 12, 2018userLeave a comment

This is my cat, Marzipan, responding to some catnip I rubbed on the floor. She usually responds by rolling around but other behaviours often seen include licking, sniffing, biting, drooling and kicking. The effects typically last for 5-15 minutes and after it wears off, they won’t respond again for about 30 minutes. Have you ever…

I love scouting and it makes me a better scientist

March 11, 2018March 12, 2018userLeave a comment

In a break from convention, here’s a more personal post about why I think volunteering has had a positive impact on my PhD life. In my spare time, I’m an assistant cub scout at 23rd Manchester Scout Group and have been since April 2016. I was involved in scouting as a child for almost 10…

2017 Regenerative Medicine Round Up

January 22, 2018userLeave a comment

Happy New Year! I know it’s a little late but I did have the flu. For my first post of 2018, here’s a quick round up of my favourite regenerative medicine stories from the past year: Stem Cells Were Sent into Space! How cool is that? Starting out with a literal highlight (cue sarcastic laughing),…

Genetics…with cats!

December 27, 2017userLeave a comment

I recently teamed two of my favourite things together, science and cats, and made two videos. The first explains some basic genetics using cat coat length as an example: In the second, I explain some of the genetics of cat coat colour inheritance: The genetics turned out to be far more complicated than expected but…

New Video

November 20, 2017userLeave a comment

Hi! Just a quick post to say my next regenerative medicine video is up. I’m thoroughly enjoying making these and I think I’m improving all the time. I now know what more of the buttons on our DSLR do at the very least. Thanks to my other half, Johan, who very kindly made me a…

The History of Regenerative Medicine

November 5, 2017November 6, 2017userLeave a comment

Oh jeez. I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I posted anything. I’ve been crazy busy with my PhD and cubs recently. I’ve been interested in the history of science for a number of years and the history of regenerative medicine does not disappoint. Surprisingly, the story begins as far back as 382-322 BC…