The Health Studies Doctoral Training Centre (HSDTC) Annual Research Symposium 2023 will be a PGR student-led event, run in partnership with the King's Doctoral Students' Association (KDSA). It will provide an opportunity to network with colleagues, showcase your research through a Student Research Presentation, and gain valuable new research skills and careers insights through workshops. Dates for this event are yet to be confirmed.

If you would like to help organise the HSDTC Annual Research Symposium 2023 by joining the PGR Student Organising Committee, please register your interest by emailing hs-dtc@kcl.ac.uk.

The 2021 Symposium was held entirely online across two mornings (29 and 30 April 2021) and consisted of four parallel workshops and keynote lectures by Dr Nicola Byrom (Improving PhD Student Mental Health: We All Have a Role to Play) and Dr Katherine Young (What does COVID-19 mean for our mental health?). There were also Quick Poster presentations available to view throughout the Symposium and six of the participants were selected to give longer Student Research Presentations live at the event.

The winners of the Student Research Presentations and the annual HSDTC Public Engagement Competitions (Science Communication Competition and Science Image Competition) were announced at an awards ceremony on Day Two (you can view all of the shortlisted submissions on the Centre for Doctoral Studies Blog titled, Shortlisted Submissions for the HSDTC Public Engagement Competitions 2021):

Science Communication Competition:

• Winner: Elisa Brann, Department of Forensic & Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, A little magic in science: exploring psychosis using hypnosis.

• Runner-up: Simon Lam, Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Fishing for an Alzheimer’s cure – how researchers use zebrafish to study the brain.

Science Image Competition:

• Winner: Lea Lortal, Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Doing a Lab-based PhD during a pandemic

• Runner-up: Andrew Doel, Department of Women & Children’s Health, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, New mother breastfeeding, The Gambia

Student Research Presentations:

• Winner: Emma Williams, Department of Women & Children’s Health, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, Optimisation of newborn ventilation

• Runner-up: Louise Hesketh, School of Cardiovascular Medicine & Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, The development of a novel ischaemia-activated antiarrhythmic prodrug'

The HSDTC Annual Research Symposium 2020 was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

We would like to thank all of the participants who offered to help make this year’s event a success, and a big thank you to our PGR Student Organising Committee who worked so hard on planning and organising the Symposium: Shaikha Almazrouei, Nadia Chaher, Vita Dikariyanto, Valeria Manuelli, and Marie-Therese Salcher-Konrad.

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The HSDTC Annual Research Symposium 2020 keynote address was to be delivered by Dr Juliet Foster, Interim Dean of Education at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience and Academic Lead for Student Mental Health and Wellbeing at King's College London, on the subject of PGR Student Mental Health and Wellbeing: some thoughts on the Knowns, the Unknowns, and the Future.

Juliet is a social psychologist whose research focuses in particular on understandings of mental health and ill health, and specialises in qualitative research. She is also Chair of the Education and Training Board of the British Psychological Society.

Our Keynote Speaker for the 2019 Symposium was Frank Kelly, Professor of Environmental Health at King's. Professor Kelly spoke on the subject of Air Quality and Health: How King's Environmental Research Group is Serving Society.

The winners of the inaugural HSDTC Science Communication Competition and the HSDTC Science Image Competition were also announced at the Symposium (see below on this page for winners and shortlisted entries), along with 2019's HSDTC Poster Prize:

Nicholas Merrild HSDTC Poster Prize 2019 First Prize
Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences

Investigating conditions for successful articular cartilage integration to inform on future tissue engineering strategies

Claire McQuitty HSDTC Poster Prize 2019 Second Prize
Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine

Optimisation and validation of a 3D-dynamic model of liver fibrosis