muscling in on stem cells

19 October 2004

MEDICAL SCHOOL INAUGURAL LECTURE – 27 OCTOBER 2004

In the second of Brighton and Sussex Medical School’s series of inaugural lectures, BSMS Chair of Human Anatomy, Professor Diana Watt, will present her research entitled Muscling in on stem cells.

The lecture will explore how, under appropriate conditions, a cell in the skin can turn into muscle, identifying the factors that allow this to happen and illustrating how these facts can be used to develop cell based therapies for diseases of skeletal muscle.

Professor Watt’s research began with a PhD studentship at the University of Aberdeen investigating the causes of spina bifida. Since then her work has focused on the possible use of donor muscle cells to alleviate muscle fibre breakdown in traumatised or diseased muscle.

In more recent studies on stem cells her research group discovered the ability of a cell in the skin to become muscle, a finding which could have immense implications for rebuilding and repopulating muscles which have degenerated either through trauma or disease.

Professor Watt aims to give her audience a taste of her developing research at the evening lecture. She explained, “Muscle is a very complex, yet fascinating tissue. Determining the pathways which a cell uses to become muscle may help us to engineer and rebuild muscles. Working at BSMS has allowed me to set up a new research group and various collaborations with colleagues from the Universities of Brighton and Sussex, as well as Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust”.

Having joined the medical school last year, Professor Watt has quickly become a popular member of the faculty through her undergraduate teaching. Previously Reader in Anatomy at Imperial College London, she now plays a key role in developing an innovative and challenging curriculum for medical students at BSMS.

Professor Jonathan Cohen, Dean at BSMS said “We are enormously proud to have someone of Professor Watt’s calibre on the faculty. It is a rare privilege indeed to find an individual who is not only working at the forefront of research in her field, but is also widely regarded as a charismatic and highly effective teacher”.

The series of evening lectures are designed to introduce key members of faculty and to give students and the local community an opportunity to learn more about groundbreaking research being carried out behind the scenes.

The lecture will take place at the Medical School Building on the University of Sussex campus in Falmer on 27 October at 6.30pm. Please inform the university if you wish to attend: lectures@bsms.ac.uk.

Notes to editors

• Individual interviews with Professor Watt can be arranged. Please contact Laura Paliotta at BSMS in the first instance on 01273 877844.

• BSMS inaugural lectures will take place once per term and feature research presentations by each professor. The next in the series is scheduled for 18 April 2005 by Professor Kevin Davies, Chair of Medicine.

• The Brighton and Sussex Medical School is an equal partnership between the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex, working together with the NHS throughout the South East region. It is the first undergraduate medical school in the South East outside of London.

• It is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department of Health.

• The first intake of 135 students enrolled for the five-year programme in October 2003. Applications for entry in 2004 saw a rise of nearly 100% on the previous year.

• BSMS works hard to create committed and compassionate practitioners with high quality interpersonal skills, as well as ethical standards for professional practice, grounded in multi-professional, team-focused work.

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