Use of nanoparticles to deliver growth signals to the placenta
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: School of Medical Sciences
Abstract
During pregnancy, the placenta transfers nutrients to the developing fetus while at the same time protecting it from harmful substances present in the mother. Very early on, rapid placental growth establishes a system for nutrient extraction that has the potential to meet the needs of the fetus later in pregnancy. At the same time, the protective barrier function of the placenta develops; this is achieved by interposing several cell layers between maternal and fetal circulations. These layers collaborate in a sophisticated way to detect growth signals present in maternal circulation and transmit them, together with the required nutrients, to the fetus, while at the same time making provision for the placenta itself to grow. Despite the affluence of developed countries, many fetuses fail to reach their normal growth potential. This has severe consequences: the smallest babies die, while those that survive have radically impaired health prospects both as children and adults.
There is convincing evidence that a high proportion of pregnancies with growth restriction are caused by placental growth abnormalities. However currently, there is no way to correct these defects. Drug companies shy away from developing drugs for use in pregnancy because they are fearful of harming unborn babies with their new products, and want to avoid expensive lawsuits. Instead, they invest in other areas of research, leaving doctors with few alternatives for treating pregnant women.
Nanoparticles are tiny synthetic beads - much smaller than cells in the body - which, in principle, could be injected into the mother's blood stream and directed to the placenta to deliver signals that cause it to grow. This mode of therapy should indirectly improve the growth - and hence health prospects - of the fetus, with the great advantage that the therapeutic particles would be retained within the placental barrier and so would be discarded at the end of pregnancy.
In work leading up to this proposal, we have developed methods for keeping placental tissue alive in the laboratory for a few days, and have shown that nanoparticles loaded with growth-stimulatory chemicals, can stimulate the resident cells to grow. However we now need to find a way to ensure that if the nanoparticles were injected, they'd be delivered to the placenta and not to other sites in the mother's body.
It has recently been discovered that every organ in the body has a unique combination of molecules on its surface. These proteins act like a "postcode" and can be used to "address" packages - for example, drugs - so that they are sent to the right place. Our preliminary work has identified the postcode for placenta and in this study we plan to address a package of nanoparticles carrying growth signals and then use ethically acceptable test tube methods to explore how the growth of the different types of cell within human placenta is affected. We will also investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in relaying growth signals between the different cells and will check that the package is retained by the placenta, and not passed to the fetus, by tracking what happens to the nanoparticles after they arrive. We know that other forms of nanoparticle can have adverse effects on cells, for example some cause DNA damage, so we will also investigate if our addressed packages have a similar effect and if necessary, develop ways to overcome these unwanted actions.
Development of a targeted drug delivery system will help women feel confident that any drugs they receive during pregnancy will not harm their unborn child. This project will define a framework within which nanoparticle therapies can be characterised and advanced towards clinical implementation.
There is convincing evidence that a high proportion of pregnancies with growth restriction are caused by placental growth abnormalities. However currently, there is no way to correct these defects. Drug companies shy away from developing drugs for use in pregnancy because they are fearful of harming unborn babies with their new products, and want to avoid expensive lawsuits. Instead, they invest in other areas of research, leaving doctors with few alternatives for treating pregnant women.
Nanoparticles are tiny synthetic beads - much smaller than cells in the body - which, in principle, could be injected into the mother's blood stream and directed to the placenta to deliver signals that cause it to grow. This mode of therapy should indirectly improve the growth - and hence health prospects - of the fetus, with the great advantage that the therapeutic particles would be retained within the placental barrier and so would be discarded at the end of pregnancy.
In work leading up to this proposal, we have developed methods for keeping placental tissue alive in the laboratory for a few days, and have shown that nanoparticles loaded with growth-stimulatory chemicals, can stimulate the resident cells to grow. However we now need to find a way to ensure that if the nanoparticles were injected, they'd be delivered to the placenta and not to other sites in the mother's body.
It has recently been discovered that every organ in the body has a unique combination of molecules on its surface. These proteins act like a "postcode" and can be used to "address" packages - for example, drugs - so that they are sent to the right place. Our preliminary work has identified the postcode for placenta and in this study we plan to address a package of nanoparticles carrying growth signals and then use ethically acceptable test tube methods to explore how the growth of the different types of cell within human placenta is affected. We will also investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in relaying growth signals between the different cells and will check that the package is retained by the placenta, and not passed to the fetus, by tracking what happens to the nanoparticles after they arrive. We know that other forms of nanoparticle can have adverse effects on cells, for example some cause DNA damage, so we will also investigate if our addressed packages have a similar effect and if necessary, develop ways to overcome these unwanted actions.
Development of a targeted drug delivery system will help women feel confident that any drugs they receive during pregnancy will not harm their unborn child. This project will define a framework within which nanoparticle therapies can be characterised and advanced towards clinical implementation.
Technical Summary
Failure of placental growth causes impaired fetal growth which has effects on health in childhood and later life. We now seek funding to develop a novel approach to therapy in utero: the use of maternally administered nanoparticles to deliver a growth stimulus to the placenta. The placenta is an attractive target for nanoparticle-mediated therapies as it filters material in maternal circulation to prevent toxins from accessing fetal tissues. Enhanced placental growth would rescue defective fetal growth and particulate material would be confined to the placenta and discarded at birth.
Using an explant model of the early human placenta in which its barrier properties are maintained, we have shown that the growth factors (GF) IGF and TGF can stimulate placental cell proliferation. We also have data to suggest this stimulus can be delivered on a quantum dot (QD) but targeting GF-QD to the placenta and overcoming the adverse effects caused by some nanoparticles will be a pre-requisite for therapeutic exploitation. Here we plan to
1. (a) monitor the effect the effect of GF-QD on human placental trophoblast proliferation and differentiation in order to (b) generate formulations that retain GF activity once labelled with our recently identified placental "homing" peptides.
2. (a) track GF-QD (+/- homing peptides) through the placenta and identify key signalling mediators of altered trophoblast function; (b) investigate whether growth signals generated by trophoblast exposure to QD-GF are transduced to other cellular compartments within placenta.
3. (a) assess the potential for GF-QD to elicit damaging effects (DNA strand breaks and chromosomal abnormalities) and (b) explore ways of offsetting detrimental outcomes.
At the end of the project we will have developed an efficacious and safe strategy for manipulating placental growth and / or function that will form the basis for therapeutic intervention in pregnancy disorders characterised by placental abnormalities.
Using an explant model of the early human placenta in which its barrier properties are maintained, we have shown that the growth factors (GF) IGF and TGF can stimulate placental cell proliferation. We also have data to suggest this stimulus can be delivered on a quantum dot (QD) but targeting GF-QD to the placenta and overcoming the adverse effects caused by some nanoparticles will be a pre-requisite for therapeutic exploitation. Here we plan to
1. (a) monitor the effect the effect of GF-QD on human placental trophoblast proliferation and differentiation in order to (b) generate formulations that retain GF activity once labelled with our recently identified placental "homing" peptides.
2. (a) track GF-QD (+/- homing peptides) through the placenta and identify key signalling mediators of altered trophoblast function; (b) investigate whether growth signals generated by trophoblast exposure to QD-GF are transduced to other cellular compartments within placenta.
3. (a) assess the potential for GF-QD to elicit damaging effects (DNA strand breaks and chromosomal abnormalities) and (b) explore ways of offsetting detrimental outcomes.
At the end of the project we will have developed an efficacious and safe strategy for manipulating placental growth and / or function that will form the basis for therapeutic intervention in pregnancy disorders characterised by placental abnormalities.
Planned Impact
This project will reveal how the placenta senses stimuli - ligands for well established receptor systems that drive cellular growth - delivered in a novel way via nanoparticles labelled with placental homing peptides, and how it responds as an integrated system to promote fetal growth. The research offers a real possibility of improving human health by developing credible strategies for specifically delivering novel therapeutic interventions to the maternal / fetal interface in pregnancies complicated by abnormal fetal growth.
Recent research makes a powerful case that lifelong health is programmed in utero, so that, for example, risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which have major impacts in ageing populations, are greatly increased in people who were growth restricted in utero, apparently because a 'stressed' metabolic programme is set in train. Prevention of fetal growth disorders would have a significant impact not only on individuals and their families but on society as a whole by relieving the financial burden associated with obstetric/neonatal care and the management of chronic disease. However currently, there are no appropriate interventions in the pipeline. Consequently we hope to begin a process of exploring ethically acceptable ways of specifically optimising growth in the human fetoplacental unit, whilst maintaining safety.
The ability to specifically target drugs to the materno-fetal interface will provide biologists with a means of manipulating placental or fetal development in vivo and aid the discovery of new therapeutic strategies to treat pregnancy complications. These outcomes will be of interest to clinicians and midwives, agencies within the Department of Health, and to the pharmaceutical industry. This research may also increase the number of drugs developed for use in pregnancy and labour by providing the pharmaceutical industry with a mechanism to safely direct drugs away from the fetus.
We believe the output from this project will be attractive to high impact journals. We will also convey our findings to the scientific and clinical communities by presenting at key national and international meetings.
The Universities of Manchester and Bristol have effective systems for early filing of patents on exploitable IP and the University of Manchester Intellectual Property (UMIP) and Bristol Research and Development Office have been established to support researchers in organizing and exploiting patentable research.
The Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre hosts the UK's first placenta clinic which, in conjunction with the Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, will provide clinical maternal for testing novel treatments, and facilitate movement of our discoveries into new treatments.
Recent research makes a powerful case that lifelong health is programmed in utero, so that, for example, risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which have major impacts in ageing populations, are greatly increased in people who were growth restricted in utero, apparently because a 'stressed' metabolic programme is set in train. Prevention of fetal growth disorders would have a significant impact not only on individuals and their families but on society as a whole by relieving the financial burden associated with obstetric/neonatal care and the management of chronic disease. However currently, there are no appropriate interventions in the pipeline. Consequently we hope to begin a process of exploring ethically acceptable ways of specifically optimising growth in the human fetoplacental unit, whilst maintaining safety.
The ability to specifically target drugs to the materno-fetal interface will provide biologists with a means of manipulating placental or fetal development in vivo and aid the discovery of new therapeutic strategies to treat pregnancy complications. These outcomes will be of interest to clinicians and midwives, agencies within the Department of Health, and to the pharmaceutical industry. This research may also increase the number of drugs developed for use in pregnancy and labour by providing the pharmaceutical industry with a mechanism to safely direct drugs away from the fetus.
We believe the output from this project will be attractive to high impact journals. We will also convey our findings to the scientific and clinical communities by presenting at key national and international meetings.
The Universities of Manchester and Bristol have effective systems for early filing of patents on exploitable IP and the University of Manchester Intellectual Property (UMIP) and Bristol Research and Development Office have been established to support researchers in organizing and exploiting patentable research.
The Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre hosts the UK's first placenta clinic which, in conjunction with the Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, will provide clinical maternal for testing novel treatments, and facilitate movement of our discoveries into new treatments.
Organisations
Publications
Nishiguchi A
(2019)
In vitro placenta barrier model using primary human trophoblasts, underlying connective tissue and vascular endothelium.
in Biomaterials
Karolczak-Bayatti M
(2019)
IGF signalling and endocytosis in the human villous placenta in early pregnancy as revealed by comparing quantum dot conjugates with a soluble ligand
in Nanoscale
Renshall LJ
(2021)
Targeted Delivery of Epidermal Growth Factor to the Human Placenta to Treat Fetal Growth Restriction.
in Pharmaceutics
Karolczak-Bayatti M
(2014)
Delivery and intracellular turnover of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) delivered to human placenta using quantum dots
in Placenta
Karolczak-Bayatti Magdalena
(2015)
IGF-I INTRACELLULAR SIGNALLING IN THE HUMAN PLACENTA IS DEPENDENT ON CLATHRIN- AND CAVEOLIN-DEPENDENT ENDOCYTOSIS
in PLACENTA
Cureton N
(2017)
Selective Targeting of a Novel Vasodilator to the Uterine Vasculature to Treat Impaired Uteroplacental Perfusion in Pregnancy.
in Theranostics
Description | Scientific advisor to RCOG |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Impact | The committee advises OBGYN practitioners worldwide by initiating, curating and publishing scientific impact papers relevant to reproductive care. |
Title | Methodology for tracking endocytic pathways in placenta |
Description | We have developed a way of using quantum dots loaded with growth factor to track internalisation in placental tissue explants. This is currently published only in abstract form. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This should have a significant impact on studies to understand growth signalling from mother to fetus. |
Description | Manchester Pharmacy School Bugs to Drugs Community Open Day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | In 2014, I was team lead for a stall at the Manchester Pharmacy School Bugs to Drugs Community Open Day to educate 5-75 year olds about microbes and antibiotic resistance. I showed children how to isolate their DNA from a saliva sample and how to identify different bacteria under the microscope |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | 1st International RHG Congress 'From Debate to Consensus in Reproductive Medicine' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | I gave a talk, How selective is the endometrium? to a group of practitioners leading to a debate about aspects of ther future of ART. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | A level student visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 60 pupils attended a talk and laboratory tour with questions and career related discussion. College asked for lab visit for A level students and reported enthusiastic response to hospital-based research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | BBC Breakfast TV interview February 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | BBC Breakfast TV interview February 2018 discussion growth of human eggs in the laboratory. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008,2018 |
Description | British Science week event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | As part of a large exhibit during British Science Week in Manchester a group of postdocs and postgrad students (including students from our MRes programme in Reproduction and Pregnancy) hosted visits from school students to an interactive display. Groups from different age groups, both primary ad secondary) participated with their teachers. Exhibits aim to explain embryo implantation, what the placenta does, how the fetus grows and how lifestyle can influence pregnancy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Community Festival at Manchester University |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The community event links Manchester university to its local and regional community, aiming to communicate the wide range of activities especially in, but not limited to, science and technology as part of its social responsibility agenda. It is widely advertised in local schools and it was especially pleasing to see how many children and parents from diverse communities paid a visit to our pregnancy stand. Our 'Before you were born' stand has about 6 hands-on activities for children of different ages as well as images, information and models for adults. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.socialresponsibility.manchester.ac.uk/strategic-priorities/engaging-our-communities/publi... |
Description | Community open days 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentations about pregnancy and the placenta with interactive games for children. Community open day 2015 http://www.engagement.manchester.ac.uk/blog/?tag=science-spectacular https://www.flickr.com/photos/128754940@N08/albums/72157660915060789 Community open day 2014 http://events.manchester.ac.uk/event/event:y151-huwpe3xd-dga3v6/flsmhs-community-open-day |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015 |
Description | Interview with New Scientist about male fertility |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Interview with New Scientist about male fertility, implications of declining sperm counts in the western world |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Interview with The Economist about male fertility |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Interview with New Scientist about male fertility, particularly the lack of focus on male reproduction compared to female |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Invited Lightning Lecture: Medical and Human Sciences Graduate Society, University of Manchester, October 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I gave an invited Lightning Lecture to ~25 postgraduates at the Medical and Human Sciences Graduate Society, University of Manchester, October 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Invited seminar (expenses paid): Animal Science Research Center, University of Missouri, USA |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I gave an invited seminar (expenses paid) to ~ 50 undergraduates, postgraduates and Faculty members at the Animal Science Research Center, University of Missouri, USA, March 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Invited seminar, Mercy Hospital for Women, University of Melbourne, Australia, September 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I gave an invited seminar to ~25 postgraduate students, scientists and clinicians at The Mercy Hospital for Women, University of Melbourne, Australia, September 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Media interest including social media |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Our January 2015 paper on a maternal microRNA that inhibits embryo implantation was the subject of a press release. The item ran in the Daily Mail and was picked up by Cosmo, Elle and numerous other national and international outlets. It has become -- so far -- the 4th most talked about paper in social media ever published in J Cell Science. I got emails from infertile women. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a36075/major-new-study-shows-why-ivf-doesnt-always-work/ |
Description | Organiser and host, annual Meet the Scientist workshops |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | I have organised and hosted 2-4 "Meet the Scientist" sessions for groups of A Level Biology students every January since 2012. This involved running lab tours, discussing my research and my career path so far. Simple handouts were produced for the students to summarise the research discussed. These were to be used by the students to prepare a report on their visit. no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014 |
Description | Postgraduate placentology workshop at Queen's University Kingston Ontario |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Kingston workshop trains postgraduate researchers and stimulates dialogue and networking on the field. Research collaborations have sprung from this activity. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014,2015 |
URL | http://www.queensu.ca/workshops/placenta/?q=node/3 |
Description | Postgraduate reproductive biologyh workshop, USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Training for postgraduate students, as well as continuing medical education for Ob/Gyn faculty at USP. Postgraduates with a strong basic science/animal model focus are stimulated to apply their findings to problems in human pregnancy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Public engagement event on the placenta |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Our centre ran the annual conference of IFPA, the International Federation of Placenta Associations, in 2017 at GMEX, an exhibition space in central Manchester. On the final afternoon we held (for the first time at these conferences) a public engagement event with researchers giving short talks, an art exhibition about stillbirth, an image competition that the public voted on, and a large 'hands-on' exhibit for children and adults to learn about pregnancy. The session was popular with the general public, especially families, and was also attended by international scientists who were in town for the meeting, including the outgoing and incoming chairs of IFPA, and was noted as providing innovative leadership for other national associations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.ifpa2017.org/public-engagement/ |
Description | Radio 4 interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Several members of the Maternal and Fetal Health Centre contributed to a programme on the placenta in the Frontiers series http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nvdgg N/a |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
Description | SMART Masterclass |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | This SMART Masterclass organised by Merck-Serono included my presentation on: 'Beyond stimulation: Markers of receptivity, what are they telling us?' |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | STIRMAS (Society of Trainees in Reproductive Medicine ) Scientific Annual Meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | I presented a talk to the Society of Trainees in Reproductive Medicine Scientific Annual Meeting on 23rd October 2015, London on studying implantation in vitro, leading to a general discussion about overcoming the 'bottleneck' of failed implantation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | School visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Twenty pupils from a local secondary school visited our laboratories and were educated about the role of the placenta in pregnancy. They were also asked to design a new logo for our group, based on the placenta. The designs were displayed in the hospital for several weeks, were voted on by staff and members of the public and the winning design was adopted as the logo for our Placenta clinic. A new logo for our Placenta clinic, which manages women at high risk of pregnancy complications, was created. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
Description | School visit to the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | I organised and hosted a school visit to our Research Centre for 32 Year 10 students and 2 teachers from Flixton Girls School, Greater Manchester. During this half day session the girls learnt about our research and participated in a careers session, a lab tour and a debate about ethical issues in pregnancy. Simple handouts were produced for the students to summarise the research discussed. These were to be used by the students to prepare a report on their visit no actual impacts realised to date |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Science Connections event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | In July 2015, I participated in a Science Connections event at Levenshulme High School for Girls in Manchester. I talked to groups of girls about my education, career path and what my job entails from day to day. I also held a discussion about science and pregnancy in the news, to gauge the girls' opinions on cloning, IVF, designer babies and embryo selection. The aim of the day was to give them a wider understanding of different career paths within the medical sciences and to help them understand some of the roles and responsibilities of different professions |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Science spectacular at Manchester University |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Manchester University scientists devise interactive activities across a wide range of disciplines. The exhibits are open for a full day in the Manchester Museum and adjacent space and the event is widely advertised. Our stand was visited by many families and couples including present and past patients in our infertility and obstetric services. It attracted a lot of interest about early pregnancy, IVF and the start of life. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/events/124428648284796/?active_tab=about |
Description | Talk at Fertility 2015, Birmingham |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk sparked discussion as the research impacts on clinical practice After my talk participants discussed the need for higher investment by funding bodies in assisted reproduction. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.fertility2015.org/ |
Description | Talk at Meeting: Best of ESRHE and ASRM, New York, March 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Lots of discussion afterwards This work is contributing to an increased emphasis on improved endometrial receptivity in IVF-embryo transfer. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.asrm.org/uploadedFiles/ASRM_Content/Events/2015_Best_of_ESHRE_and_ASRM/Best_ESHRE-ASRM201... |
Description | University of Manchester Medical School Community Open Day |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | In 2014, I was team lead for a stall at the University of Manchester Medical School Community Open Day to educate 5-12 year olds about the placenta. I developed a series of interactive activities to demonstrate the importance of optimal placental function and to explain how we can treat poor placental function |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Widening participation Dragonfly Day speed networking event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | In 2015, I participated in a Dragonfly Day speed networking event organised by The University of Manchester. Groups of local school girls aged 12-15 asked me questions about my education, career path and current job. The aim of the programme was for the girls to meet and chat with female staff working in STEM areas, improve their self-confidence and communication skills, challenge their perceptions of scientists and highlight careers they may not have considered |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Workshop on implantation for trainee embryologists |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | I acted as an outside expert to work with the trainee embryologists on the topic of implantation and endometrial receptivity. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018 |