Our school hosted our annual event — SBBS Research Day 2025 — on Thursday, 1st May in the O’Brien Science Centre.

This day-long celebration, opened by Dr Tanja Narancic, Head of Graduate Studies at SBBS,  brought together our vibrant community of postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, academic staff, and new faculty to showcase the depth and diversity of scientific work across the school. The event featured a packed programme of lightning talks, poster sessions, SPARK Award lectures, and faculty presentations — highlighting the innovation, collaboration, and energy that define SBBS research.

🎤 Programme Highlights

• 68 posters and 18 lightning talks presented by PhD students, postdocs, and early-career researchers

• SPARK Award presentations by Dr Tess McCann and Dr Sean Quinlan

• New Faculty Spotlights from Dr. Rebecca Henry and Dr. Jonathan Bailey

• Prize-winning lightning talks by Grace Ruddin, Rhys Orimaco, and Molly Davies

Presentations and discussions spanned the school's five core research themes:

• 🔬 Infection Biology

• 🧠 Mechanisms of Disease

• 💊 Drug Discovery & Development

• 🧫 Model Systems for Biomedical Research

• 🧪 Biotechnology & Synthetic Biology

Read more about out school's five core research areas.

The foyer of the O’Brien Science Centre buzzed with energy as colleagues shared research, reconnected, and explored opportunities for future collaboration.

🏆 Recognising Excellence

Three PhD students were awarded prizes for their outstanding lightning talks:

Molly Davies (Conway Lab) – PAX8 coordinates oncogenic transcription independently of stable interactors in high-grade serous ovarian cancer 🧬🧫🎯🎗️

Rhys Orimaco (Narančić Lab) – Lord of the Aromatic Rings: Harnessing Native Metabolism in Pseudomonas umsongensis GO16 for the Production of Plastic Alternatives 🔬🧪🌱♻️

Grace Ruddin (Kennedy Lab) – Understanding the role of RGR in vision using CRISPR rgr zebrafish knockouts 🧠👁️‍🗨️🧬🐟

🙌 Acknowledgements

SBBS Research Day 2025 was made possible by the dedication and hard work of the SBBS Postdoc Committee with support from staff across the school and our sponsors at GENEWIZ from Azenta Life Sciences.

A sincere thank you to all who participated, judged, supported, and attended — and to our Head of School, Prof. Cormac Murphy, for closing the day with remarks and prize presentations.