King's College London

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Smart Medical Imaging (SMI CDT) at King's and Imperial College London, reconvened for their 3rd annual Residential Retreat, this time in Royal Berkshire Hotel in Ascot between 9 – 10 May.

This is a unique opportunity offered to PhD students by the SMI CDT, based in the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences. The Retreat brings together medical imaging PhD students and alumni, international scientists and experts in the field. 

Professor Jason Lewis, who is a radiochemist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, delivered a plenary talk on theranostics and precision medicine in cancer treatment. He observed that the SMI CDT programme’s value extends globally and there is no other place like this.

Students also heard from two CDT alumni Dr Elisa Roccia, Global Clinical Marketing Manager at Siemens Healthineers, who spoke about her journey into industry as well as Dr Sophie Morse, Imperial College Research Fellow, who shared details of her journey into academia. Another plenary talk was delivered by Dr Mark Gooding, an Oxford graduate, entrepreneur and scientific advisor, who discussed the importance of finding your Why? in research, the wider value and his personal path. 

Presentations and poster sessions were delivered by the PhD students who shared details of their projects, each followed by a Q&A. They also enjoyed a team building activity whilst the management team held the annual External Advisory Board meeting with academic and industry experts and EPSRC portfolio manager, to reflect on the previous year and discuss the future of the SMI CDT.  

Everyone had a chance to take a break and enjoy the beautiful gardens of the Royal Berkshire Hotel in the sun. The Retreat ended with prizes for best posters awarded to Tia Gibson, Natasha Patel and Helena Sousa and for best students talks awarded to Hugo Barbaroux and Denis Prokopenko, and a heartfelt thank you from Professor Alistair Young, the Director of the SMI CDT.