Early Career Researchers.. In hosting this event we would like to say thank you to our industrial partners, who have helped us to shape this program so far. You have done this with dispassionate honesty and enthusiasm, which has been most welcome and encouraging to us all. It has been a steep learning curve for us and we know this is only the beginning. Be reassured that we appreciate the time you are giving and we value hearing your advice and your requests. We may not always get it right but we are genuinely committed to nurturing this partner- ship in a mutually beneficial way that will create a ‟culture of interaction with industry‟ in our institution. Our aim is that the next generation of research leaders will be able to thrive through collaboration, and will be a testament to those who dedicated time to their training. To the academic staff and early career researchers, we would like to encourage you to take up this unique opportunity to increase your network of industrial partners, let them know your strengths and discover their needs. We are entering a new era in the history of universities and the opportunity to network with industrial partners will enable us to en- hance the impact of our research. To those in management positions, we invite you to en- gage with our help in building the InKForge portfolio of events within departments . We hope you will ensure that the early career researchers working with you take part in this process and have the opportunity to learn how it is done. Be reassured that the Early Ca- reer Group, particularly Dr Kay Guccione will be there to support you in making this hap- pen. Finally I would like to say my personal thank you to Dr Kay Guccione, who was able to see the potential of what we were trying to achieve from the start and has been working with great passion and dedication to transform few ideas in a concrete program of work. My thanks go also to Lesley Keers, InKForge administrator, who has supported us in the or- ganization of this event with great enthusiasm. I hope you enjoy the evening and this will be the first of many InKForge events to come. Ilaria Bellantuono Chair of the Early Career Group Early Career Researchers.. Dr Dan Hampshire Research Associate Cardiovascular Science Dan has worked in the field of molecular genetics for approximately eleven years, specifically on its appli- cation to research into single gene disorders. His initial research focused on neuro-development disor- ders, specifically the use of molecular genetic techniques to identify and characterise genes involved in neuro-development. During this period he also undertook an industrial placement with GlaxoSmithKline as part of an MRC Industrial CASE studentship. Post-PhD Dan‟s research has focused on the inherited bleeding disorder von Willebrand disease. Specifically, his research concerns the identification of further mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of this disorder. However, he has also developed an active inter- est into the wide natural variation of von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels in plasma and the mechanisms which could influence plasma VWF levels, including the transcriptional / miRNA regulation of the VWF gene and other genetic loci acting as modifiers. Dr Ed Guccione Research Associate Infection & Immunity Ed is a molecular microbiologist who has worked in a number of areas of the course of a 10-year career. Ed‟s PhD was an Industrial CASE studentship with Don Whitley Scientific Ltd that focused on the funda- mental metabolism available to foodborne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni. He continued his work with the pathogen developing novel chemostat culture system for the notoriously fastidious organism, to enable reliable transcriptomic analysis through a range of robustly controlled conditions. Currently, Ed is apply- ing his molecular microbiology skills to developing a new technique for gene expression analysis of Neis- seria spp. during human colonisation. Outside of academia, Ed is a Chief Executive Officer of a local Arts Charity and its trading arm. Dr Caroline Parkin Research Associate Biomedical Science Caroline Parkin uses zebrafish as a model for studying developmental and medical genetics, for much of the last ten years she‟s been at the Centre for Developmental and Biomedical Genetics (CDBG) at the Uni- versity of Sheffield. She can tell you (with some caveats) how the digestive system forms, and the implica- tions for the development of human birth defects and diabetes (her PhD subject); how muscle fibres de- velop, grow and fuse (a post-doc carried out at IMCB in Singapore) and how different drugs that were tested on zebrafish can be used to treat human diseases (a post-doc at CDBG). But she‟s now looking at something new: how stems cells are regulated in the adult brain, with specific emphasis on the hypothala- mus. Zebrafish provide an ideal model for this work as they readily regenerate neural tissue. In addition to her research she spends a lot of time doing outreach work, which ranges from maintaining a website about zebrafish in medical research (www.fishforscience.com) to running day-long molecular biology clas- ses for A-level students to giving a 6 minute and 40 second presentation on her work to the general public at a Pecha Kucha night Dr Michael Trikic Research Associate Oncology Michael works in the Institute for Cancer Studies within the Department of Oncology, The Medical School, University of Sheffield. Michael has 10 years experience of working in university and commercial research laboratories and in 2005 moved to Sheffield to study for a PhD in immunology using zebrafish as a model organism, in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. He finished his PhD in a little over 3 years and published a paper based on his findings. He then took up his current position researching the interaction between kinases and small molecule inhibitors, with the aim of developing an understanding of kinase biology in cancers and improving tumour targeting for future therapies. Early Career Researchers Early Career Researchers.. Dr David Finger Research Fellow Chemistry David is currently a Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow (MC-IIF) at the University of Sheffield and a member of the Board of Director (BoD) of the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA). Before becoming an MC-IIF, David was an extramural NIH Ruth Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellow at the City of Hope (COH) Beckman Research Institute near Los Angeles. David earned his B.A. in biochemistry from Ithaca College. After a three month internship in the Department of Vaccine Serology at Merck, Inc. in West Point, PA, Da- vid moved to Los Angeles to earn his doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Cali- fornia, Los Angeles (UCLA) under the direction of Professor Juli Feigon. Before becoming a member of the BoD of the NPA, David previously served as Chair (2009) and Vice Chair (2010) of the Outreach Commit- tee in addition to volunteering (2007-2009) for several other sub-committees of the Meetings Committee. Dr Aneurin Kennerley Research Associate Psychology Aneurin is a Magnetic Resonance Physicist for the fMRI facility in the Department of Psychology. His role includes overseeing the running of MRI based experimental research in the neuro-imaging facilities within the department, and coordinating MRI research carried out in the imaging Unit including that undertaken for internal and external customers. Aneurin obtained his PhD from the University of Sheffield in 2006. In 2010 he was awarded the AstraZeneca Prize for innovative in-vivo MRI research at the British Chapter of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine conference. Dr Daniel Kelly Research Associate Human Metabolism Daniel completed an undergraduate degree in combined honours Human Biology and Human Psychology at Aston University in Birmingham. As part of this course he spent a year in industry working for Unilever R&D as a research assistant within a team of biomedical scientists investigating biomarkers of stress and heart health/lifestyle interventions. This placement triggered an interest in biomedical research and he spent almost two years working as a laboratory technician at Sheffield Hallam University. This led him to undertake a PhD at the same University investigating the effects of testosterone on the inflammatory pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. He is currently a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Sheffield focussing on the role of testosterone in cardiovascular disease and comorbidities such as diabe- tes and metabolic syndrome. Dr Simon Palfreyman Research Nurse/Honorary Lecturer ScHARR Simon‟s professional background is as a registered nurse. He currently has a three year post-doctoral NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) clinical lectureship in tissue viability. The post has both a clinical component based within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and a research pro- ject which is within the field of outcome measurement. To undertake his PhD he gained a Smith and Nephew Foundation scholarship to develop a quality of life questionnaire which could be used to examine the effectiveness of treatments for venous ulceration. Simon has successfully applied for and been a co- applicant on a range of research studies within tissue viability and service delivery. He has formed re- search collaborations with Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield University and Sheffield Teaching Hospi- tals. Simon‟s has experience of undertaking both qualitative and quantitative research. His research inter- ests are concerned with the measurement and valuation of health, particularly in relation to tissue viabil- ity/wound care. Early Career Researchers Early Career Researchers.. Praveen Thokala Research Associate ScHARR Praveen is a health economic modeller at Health Economics and Decision Science (HEDS) in the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield.