CAIUS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ANNUAL NEWSLETTER ISSUE 15 - MAY 2012

The CMA President’s Annual Report

reoccupied with their profession, not to mention families, leisure and, of course, Pworrying about the state of the nation ... Caius medics nevertheless continue to turn up to the Annual Meeting in considerable numbers. Last year, they had a ball: talks on sudden cardiac death by James Fraser, telling us how it can happen and about some new targets that might lead to improved prevention; Paul Klenerman showing how basic science can and does inform clinical medicine, and foreshadowing the next advances in the topical subject of hepatitis; Peter Jones Professor FRS FMedSci updating us on the ever-present scourge of delivered the Plenary Lecture: schizophrenia, with some surprising facts about how KATP channels, neonatal diabetes and neurological disorders: from molecule and where it occurs; John Latimer beguiling us with to disease stories of some quite rare gynaecological cancers, and at the 2011 CMA meeting. showing some rather stunning film clips.

Then, Martin Johnson took us on a fascinating historical tour of the turbulent road leading from Robert Edwards' great discovery of IVF (a notable example of how a well-informed and talented biologist can transform medicine) to the present day clinical situation (still controversial). Finally, the star-turn. I rather think that many of Fran Ashcroft's audience, reading her title, might have expected a dry account of a tiny corner of super-science, deeply impressive maybe but ... How wrong! She gave us a spectacular talk: and you could sense the excitement of her listeners as she unravelled before us the detective story of potassium channels (only dimly remembered, one suspects, by many) in juvenile diabetes. This, we all thought, is what science is really about, and how lucky we all are to be part of it. Then, of course, drinks with Sir Christopher Hum, The Master, and that very jolly dinner in Hall. THE PRESIDENT’S REPORT cont.

o, what about this year? We begin with a talk on alcoholism and cancer (our very own K J Patel), a very topical issue; then one on sex-change, and what it means for the person, the law Sand the rest of us (Richard Green, formerly of the Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross). Richard Boyd, one of our Oxford colleagues, will update us on membranes and transporters (so important for pharmacotherapy), and Morris Brown will tell us about some very new advances in understanding hypertension, which may well have an impact at a clinic near you rather soon. The plenary will be given by Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, who knows a thing or two about genes, and how the current avalanche of knowledge about them will alter medicine. And…of course, the dinner. Can you really miss all that (it's June 23, by the way)?

Emeritus Professor Joe Herbert ,[email protected],

The CMA Website The CMA website has been updated with details of the forthcoming meeting. It contains downloadable application and standing order fforms. Newsletters dating back to 2004 are also available. Wwww.srcf.ucam.org/cmaw

For general enquiries, please contact Kevin O’Shaughnessy or Julie Deane: c/o Caius Medical Association, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge CB2 1TA. E-Mail: [email protected] & [email protected] 2 CMA SUMMER STUDENTSHIPS 2011 By James A. FRASER (1994) MA Summer Studentships provide funding of up to £90 per week for students wishing to undertake a research project. In 2011, six students applied for CMA funding and all were Coffered studentships. Two of them went on to secure full funding from charity sources, and were offered honorary CMA studentships. The CMA has, therefore, been able to continue to fulfil all requests for funding from second- and third-year students applying for their first project, and has more recently been able to extend funding to first year students. These studentships, made possible by the generosity of CMA members, allow students to plan research projects in the knowledge that funding will be available, and has now given many students their first experience of real research.

In 2012, the CMA has been delighted to be able to offer an additional opportunity for summer research. Babak Javid, a Caius Medical alumnus, has invited and provided funding for two undergraduates to undertake research projects in China's Tsinghua University. This very generous offer has generated great interest from the students. I look forward to reporting on these studentships in the next issue of the Newsletter.

The 2011 summer students have, as ever, undertaken a range of interesting projects:

Eben Jones travelled to Nepal where he was involved in a project, co-ordinated by Prof Hugh Montgomery, investigating genetic selection for physiological advantage to hypobaric hypoxia amongst stable populations residing permanently at high-altitude. The overall aim of the project was to identify the relevant genes and to engineer a gene therapy for treatment of patients at sea level in ICU where oxygen uptake into the blood is a critical factor. Eben was involved in establishing links with hospitals both at high and low altitude who may be interested in collaborating in the study. He met with representatives from hospitals and presented the proposal to them and sought to identify and work through potential problems.

Lianjian Lu developed a computer model of Na+-K+-2Cl- co-transport in the kidney under the supervision of Dr James Fraser. Starting from scratch, he coded and tested a model that is capable of predicting the intracellular ion concentrations within the tubular epithelia as well as extracellular concentrations. His aim is to characterize how various molecular processes interact to give rise to the macroscopically observed concentrating mechanism, including the relative contributions of the various processes over time. This is a poorly understood question that has great relevance to common conditions including hypertension, cardiac failure, and the effects of loop diuretics.

Vijay Shyam-Sundar investigated signal transduction pathways in ischaemic cell death with Dr Thomas Krieg at Addenbrooke's Hospital. The work was directed towards identifying therapies that prevent cell death in ischaemic hearts by measuring two kinases (Bcl-2 and Bax) with Western blot in mouse hearts. This was aimed at understanding the complex signal transduction pathways involved in the responses to ischaemia in the heart.

3 Jingwei Sim worked with Dr James Fraser for two weeks to continue her successful Part II project towards publication. Her project used mathematical modelling to investigate the factors determining transverse (t-) tubular volume in skeletal muscle. The volume of t-tubules is known to vary greatly during exhaustive exercise, osmotic shifts and in diseases including muscular dystrophy. However, there are many conflicting theories for why such volume changes occur. Jingwei succeeded in developing a theory that explains the determinants of t-system volume in resting muscle, and in doing so reconciled a number of apparently contradictory observations. Her project has considerable implications for our understanding of muscle fatigue, damage and disease.

In addition, two honorary CMA studentships were awarded:

Charles Earnshaw worked in Edinburgh with Prof. Rick Maizels investigating primary and secondary antibody maturation in mice in response parasitic helminths. Yun Huang undertook a stem cell biology course and project at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA with Prof. Jerome Ritz.

All these holders of CMA studentships will be invited to attend the CMA meeting in June this year, giving them an opportunity to discuss their projects with CMA members.

From The Tutorial Office

he CMA Committee wish to congratulate the following undergraduates, who all won Tprizes last academic year. Ian Gordon-Smith Prize for Medicine: Lu, L Tucker Prize for Medicine: Huang, Y Anne Pearson Prize for Medicine: Sim, J-W Walter Myers Exhibition for Medicine: Kearney, R S Michell Scholarship for Medicine: Bhatt, N Ackroyd Scholarship for Medicine: Lu, L Ronald Greaves Award for Medicine: Wilson, A P T

Bell-Wade Grants: Ke, J; Lucas, A A Handson Awards: Agarwal, R; Matthews, H E Keighley Award: Jones, E

Hon. Clinical Scholarships: Hines-Green, A; Mirams, J A B; Ng, A Y K C; Rogers, J P; Sim, J-W Hon. Clinical Exhibitions: Kearney, R S; Yao, A C

4 By dR julian Sale (1986) THE ACKROYD FUND & Dr jAMES FRASER (1994)

he 2011 Ackroyd Scholarship was awarded to Liangjian (David) Lu, bringing the number of scholars to eight. The seventh lecture was given to a packed Bateman Auditorium by TProfessor on 10th March 2011. Doug is an immunologist who is the Sheila Joan Smith Professor of Immunology in the University, Fellow of Trinity College, Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the National Academy of Science of the United States. He spoke about his recent exciting work on cancer immunology under the title The cellular basis for the cancer-related phenomena of immune suppression and cachexia.

When growing in the body, cancer cells do not operate in isolation but require a complex matrix of supporting stroma. It has also been known for some time that tumours can express antigens that are capable of eliciting a cytotoxic T cell response. Nonetheless, it is only rarely possible to control tumours with therapeutic vaccination using such antigens. Doug's group have identified a particular stromal cell type in cancer, which expresses a protein called fibroblast activation protein alpha, that appears to act as an immunological barrier that prevents immune recognition of the malignant cells (Kraman et al. 2010 Science 330, 827-830). Remarkably, despite making up only about 2% of the stroma, depletion of these FAP-positive cells in a murine immunogenic cancer model leads to rapid necrosis of both the cancer and stromal cells. Thus, FAP cells are the principal factor within the tumour microenvironment that prevent immune recognition of the cancer cells and thus represent an extremely promising target that could bring effective immunotherapy of cancers much closer.

The Scholarships and annual lecture were endowed in 2003 by the family of Harold Ackroyd VC, MC (1896) through the sale of his medals. His Victoria Cross is now on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London. The lecture was introduced with an account Harold Ackroyd’s life by his grandson, Christopher Ackroyd (1961).

The eighth Harold Ackroyd Memorial Lecture was delivered on the 6th of March 2012 by Professor Sir Salvador Moncada FRS. He spoke about the discovery of the mechanism that enables the provision of nutrients to 5 proliferating cells. The lecture will feature in the next issue. FIRST RUNG ON THE By MR SHIVUN KHOSLA, MEDICAL LADDER CAIUS MED. SOC. PRESIDENT

s ever, Caius medical students have had an extremely successful year. Our determined pursuit of academic excellence has been rewarded with a plethora of scholarships and college Aexhibitions being awarded in 2011 across all year groups. However, the student body has not stopped there; here is just a flavour of the countless achievements we have accomplished this year.

Many dedicated time in their summer holidays in order to broaden their medical experiences in fields ranging from molecular medicine to public health. Xun Luo was funded by Cambridge MedSoc to participate in a project aimed at improving awareness of hypertension in poor urban communities in the Philippines. Hannah Matthews ventured to a hospital in Ghana where she worked alongside doctors diagnosing and treating cases of paediatric malaria. Closer to home, Charles Earnshaw participated in a research project looking at the immune response to gastrointestinal parasites. Mohammed Katta spent his summer at University College Hospital, London, where he gained a firsthand experience of surgery alongside leading surgeons in the andrology department.

Numerous individuals have supplemented their academic interests with forays into the sporting arena at a university level. Utilising a deft touch, Jessie Ke has been able to dominate the badminton court. Tim Swinn keeps himself busy on both the cricket and hockey pitch, whilst Charlotte Boreham and Samuel Bostock have represented the Light Blues in Lacrosse. And let's not forget Abigail Lucas, who ran the 2011 Virgin London Marathon in an incredible 3:14:15.

This year our clinical students have kept to Caius tradition with numerous individuals participating in the Addenbrooke’s Pantomime. Elsewhere, some of our undergraduates are involved heavily in organising and participating in Mastana, the Annual Hindu Society Charity Show. There is also musical talent in abundance throughout our ranks, with members in all three year groups playing in the college concert. On behalf of our Student Body I thank you for enabling us to purchase two new skeletons for the upcoming academic year, as well as the generous summer studentships provided annually. Caius has always been known as THE place to study Medicine, due to the wealth of resources and expertise available. I am sure that with the ongoing support of the CMA, these facilities and resources will continue to blossom, as Caius continues to produce the finest of tomorrow's doctors and researchers. 6 CMA MATTERS

CMA Committee Members ♦ Joe Herbert (President) ♦ James Fitzsimons (Past President) Annual Accounts ♦ Kevin O'Shaughnessy (Hon. Secretary) 2011 ♦ Julie Deane (Hon. Treasurer) £ ♦ Arpan Mehta (Newsletter Editor) Cash at Bank - 1/10/10 9,641 Directors of Studies in Medicine ♦ Julian Sale Income ♦ Dino Giussani Subscriptions 3,810 ♦ David Riches Donations 3,485 ♦ Ketan Patel Bank Interest 4 Medical Fellows 7,299 ♦ Eugene Paykel ♦ Richard Le Page Expenditur e ♦ Roger Carpenter Newsletter 834

♦ Morris Brown Student Support 2,160 ♦ Kay-Tee Khaw Administration 2,004 ♦ James Fraser 4,999 ♦ Helen Mott

Member’s Representatives CMA Day

♦ Stephen Brearley (Consultants) Income 4,196

♦ Andrew Breeze (Registrars) Cost (incl. Speakers’ expenses) -(3,294) ♦ Bleddyn Jones (Clinician scientists) (903) ♦ Stephen Gibson (General Practitioners) ♦ Shivun Khosla (Undergraduates) Cash at Bank - 30/9 /11 12,843 Tom Kass We very much regret to report the death of Tom Kass. Tom is remembered in Caius as a lively and rather non-conformist student, always interesting if not conventional. His later career, successful and productive, reflected these qualities. He worked at Addenbrooke's (with Sir Roy Calne), and at LMB between 1975 and 1978, publishing several papers on the immunosuppressive action of ciclosporin. He was senior vice-president and head of healthcare and biotech investment services at EFG Bank and previously was a partner at KPMG and PwC, having also worked at IBM, STA and McKinsey. Tom was also president of the Pharmaceutical Medicine & Research Section of The Royal Society of Medicine. He was an active member of the CMA, serving on its committee and adding greatly to its continued prosperity and success. He was a stalwart at CMA meetings, extremely helpful, refreshingly irreverent and very funny. We will miss him greatly, as will his family 7 and wide circle of friends. PREVIOUS CMA LECTURES

21 June 1999 • Hot topics in infectious diseases Richard Le Page (1964) • Vitamins, genes and heart disease Morris Brown (1990) • DHEA: the elixir of life? Joe Herbert (1976) • A medical foray in the Valley of a Thousand Hills James Fraser (1994), Stuart Kendrick (1994), Narman Puvanachandra (1994) and Ben Zalin (1994) • Reminiscences of Caius Professor Austin Gresham (1943)

20 June 1998 • Highlights of high altitude medicine Charles Clarke (1963) • Microbial debugging devices David Ellar (1968) • Is there an anti-ageing diet? Kay-Tee Khaw (1991) • The flowers of the stories from the stratum of the physicians: some explorations in early Islamic medicine Nadeem Ali (1994) • The Politics of Health The Rt Hon. Kenneth Clarke (1959) MP

19 June 1999 • How antibodies learn Julian Sale (1986) • Andean insights into fetal hypoxia Dino Giussani (1997) • Exploits of a travelling surgeon Richard Heald (1954) • Aspirin: old questions, new answers Ray Nouraei (1996) • Calcium - A Life and Death Signal Professor Sir Michael Berridge (1961)

24 June 2000 • Depression: Brain and Mind Eugene Paykel (1985) • Genetic Instability and Cancer Ketan Patel (1996) • Neural Decisions and Free Will Roger Carpenter (1973) • Evaluation of a new Colour Scale for measuring Haemoglobin Dunecan Massey (1994) • Towards a Treatment (or even a Cure) for Cystic Fibrosis Professor Alan Cuthbert (1963)

23 June 2001 • Neuronal Plasticity Fiona Arnold (1988) • Vascular Action of Hormones, Peter Collins (1973) • Looking at Letters, John Robson (1965) • The Rainmaker, Mike Adams (1996) • Medical Ethics and Political Correctness: are they compatible? Professor Jean-Pierre Allain

22 June 2002 • Horror Autotoxicus John Todd (1980) • Medicine in Mountain Rescue John Ellerton (1978) • The Eicosanoids and PAF in Glomerulonephritis - pathophysiology…and what happened to Therapy? Nigel Wardle (1953) • Nuclear Transport and Chromosome Breakage in Humans Chelvin Sng (1999) • Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures from Cradle to Grave Professor Cyrus Cooper (1974)

21 June 2003 • Can't pee won't pee Naima Smeulders (1989) • Stigma and the myths of mental19 illness99 Oscar to Hill (1950)2009 • Healthcare in the Happy Isles James Ware (1997) • Hypertension Genes: a modern perspective on the Pickering-Platt debate Kevin O'Shaughnessy (1995) • Mechanisms of Oxygen Sensing in the Body Professor Peter Ratcliffe (1972) 8 19 June 2004 • Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Ferdia Gallagher (1993) • Repairing the Damaged Spinal Cord James Fawcett • The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Anita Chandra (1993) • Towards a Crystal-clear View of Leukaemias Alan Warren (1991) • Protein Folding, Misfolding and Disease Professor Sir Alan Fersht (1962)

25 June 2005 • Less Invasive Autopsy: possibility or pipedream Andrew Breeze (1993) • Some lesser known but influential Caius Medics Jonathan Roos (1998) • Degenerating Discs: from Newborn Mice to Ageing Backs Julia Flint (2002) • Mind-reading with Brain Imaging Geraint Rees (1985) • Advances in Asthma Management Philip Ind (1968) • Clinical Research and Experimental Medicine Professor Sir Keith Peters

24 June 2006 • Atomic particles in the treatment of cancer: the legacy of Rutherford and Chadwick Bleddyn Jones (1971) • Magnetic Resonance: interactions between proteins involved in cancer Helen Mott (2005) • Human Factors in Medical Disasters Stephen Brearley (1971) • Industry, Empire and Epidemics: Cholera in 19th-century Europe Richard Evans (1998) • Human Obesity: Science versus Stigma Professor Stephen O'Rahilly

23 June 2007 • Trachoma Matthew Burton (1989) • Cholera and sodium deficiency, thirst and sodium appetite James Fitzsimons (1946) • The selection and care of dancers Richard Pearson (1961) • The two sub-systems of colour vision (1996) • Taking on the immune system Professor Herman Waldmann

21 June 2008 • The perils and pleasures of editing a learned journal Peter Tyrer (1959) • Are we becoming more allergic to food? Pamela Ewan • Prioritising scarce resources;lessons from liver transplant organ allocation Alexander Gimson • Common low-penetrance alleles and breast cancer: their clinical significance Paul Pharoah (1980) • Your floating brain Professor John Pickard

20 June 2009 • Imprinted genes: what they tell us about normal and abnormal development Anne Ferguson-Smith • The impact of modern imaging Adrian Dixon • Autism: new ideas on a common problem Bonny Auyeung • Pre-eclampsia: is it of any relevence to physicians? Lucy Chappell • Prostacyclin and nitric oxide, discovery and biological significance in the cardiovascular system Professor Sir Salvador Moncada

19 June 2010 • Combat casualty care in Afghanistan Lieutenant Colonel Nigel Tai • Causes and prevention of type 2 diabetes Nick Wareham (1993) • Twenty-first century back pain: is it all in the mind? Nick Birch (1979) • Distract and Weld, current maxillofacial surgery Richard Loukota • Recent advances in immunotherapy for cancer Hardev Pandha • Stem cell biology: overcoming the embryo Professor Austin Smith 25 June 2011 • Sudden cardiac death James Fraser (1994) • Is the Government right to abolish the HFEA Martin Johnson

• Hepatitis C - from virus to vaccine Paul Klenerman • KATP channels, neonatal diabetes and neurological disorders: • Early intervention in schizophrenia Peter Jones from molecule to disease Professor Frances Ashcroft • Gynae cancer through the keyhole John Latimer 935 THE NEXT CMA ANNUAL MEETING

Programme of the 16th Annual Meeting Saturday 23rd June 2012 To be held in the Bateman Auditorium Gonville & Caius College Cambridge

12:30 - 13:30 Optional sandwich lunch in the Green Room, Gonville Court

13:45 - 14:00 Registration and Welcome from the President of the CMA, Professor Joe Herbert

14:00 - 16:00 Alcohol and carcinogenesis KJ Patel (MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Cambridge)

Sex change: medical, legal and social challenges Richard Green (formerly of Gender Identity Clinic, Charing Cross Hospital)

Membranes and transporters Richard Boyd (Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford)

Hypertension: old problem, modern cures Morris Brown (Clinical Pharmacology, Cambridge)

16:00 - 16:30 Tea

16:30 - 17:00 Business Meeting

17:00 - 18:00 Plenary Lecture by Professor Sir Mark Walport KBE FRS FMedSci Director, Wellcome Trust Extraordinary opportunities: from Genome to Health.

18:45 for 19:30 Drinks Reception in The Master’s Lodge, followed by Dinner (Black-Tie) in Hall

Please ensure that your subscription (£20 p.a.) is up-to-date

This Newsletter has been posted to over 700 Caian medics. However, we received only £3810 in respect of subscription money last year.

May I ask that the remaining 500 +++ Caians consider joining the CMA, thereby showing your ongoing support and helping to fund our successful Summer Studentship programme. YYYOYOOOUUUURRRR CCCMCMMAAAA NNNENEEEEEDDDDSSSS YYYOYOOOUUUU!!!! CAIUS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL MEETING

Saturday June 23rd 2012

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