Research by a University of Lincoln academic was chosen to appear in Parliament.
Dr Enrico Ferrari, a senior lecturer in the School of Life Sciences, presented his research to a range of politicians and a panel of expert judges, as part of SET for Britain on Monday, 18 March.
The only national event of its kind, SET for Britain aims to encourage, support and promote Britain’s early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers and technologists.
Dr Ferrari’s research focuses on the toxin clostridium botulinum, commonly known as Botox, and expanding its potential as a prodigious drug that could be used for the treatment of disorders such as cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s and chronic migraine.
The technique of refining the Botox protein has been patented by the Medical Research Council and it is thought to have a potential impact not only on the design of new therapeutics but also on protein immobilization and nanotechnology.
Dr Ferrari was entered into the Biological and Biomedical Sciences session of the event.
He said: “It is a great honour to have been shortlisted from hundreds of other applicants and although I was not chosen as the overall winner I hope my research will have a great impact on managing chronic pain conditions.”
Andrew Miller MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, said, “This annual competition is an important date in the parliamentary calendar because it gives MPs an opportunity to speak to a wide range of the country’s best young researchers. These early career scientists are the architects of our future and SET for Britain is politicians’ best opportunity to meet them and understand their work.”
John Pierce, Chief Bioscientist at BP, sponsors of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Gold award, said: “BP has supported SET for Britain for several years now and we continue to be impressed by the ingenuity and dedication of the UK’s young scientists. As a biologist, I am delighted that BP is sponsoring this particular award – traditionally engineering, physics, geology and chemistry have been the backbones of energy production, but we are increasingly seeing how biology impacts that. As a major UK recruiter and investor in research and development, we believe that we need to nurture the best technical talent to meet the world’s challenges.”
Story credits:
Marie Daniels – PR Officer
E-mail: mdaniels@lincoln.ac.uk
Telephone: 01522 88624