Physiology conference showcases latest developments in membrane transport
From 24-25 August, the School hosted “Membrane Transport 2023: Recent Research into Ion Channels, Transporters and Epithelial Physiology”, a meeting of the Physiological Society. Co-organised by lecturer Dr Morag Mansley, the conference drew 86 attendees from across the globe to St Andrews, raising the profile of the School and the University.
Four sessions split across two days explored “Recent Developments in Epithelial Transport Physiology,” “New Insights into Structure and Function of Ion Channels and Transporters,” “The Transport Physiologists’ Toolbox in 2023” and “Dysfunction of Ion Channels and Transporters in Disease.” Speakers included both established and early-career scientists, including our own Dr Samantha Pitt, who presented on “The role of a newly identified Ca2+-permeable channel in cardiac dysfunction.”
Day 1 ended with a poster session and networking reception, followed by a three-course “Taste of Scotland” dinner and a ceilidh band performance! Day 2 closed with an Awards Ceremony, at which postdoctoral research associate Dr Amy Dorward was named winner of the Early Career Researcher Poster Competition, and a keynote lecture by Prof. Volker Vallon on “The kidneys’ inner workings and needs: Lessons from inhibiting a glucose transporter.” Prof. Vallon, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of California – San Diego, is an award-winning pharmacologist, physiologist, and experimental investigator in the field of nephrology.
The meeting organisers received excellent feedback, with several attendees asking “When is the next one?”! Dr Mansley was delighted by the success of the event and would like to extend her thanks to fellow co-organisers Prof. Dr Mike Althaus (Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences), and Dr Stephen Keely (RCSI) for their contributions.