We were delighted to host – for the first time – the Northern Vascular Biology Forum, which took place on Wednesday 4 December.

The regional one-day conference brought together a consortium of vascular researchers from 8 cities and 12 universities across the north of England.

This year’s forum was organised by Dr Prachi Stafford (senior lecturer in biological sciences) and Dr Dan Kelly (senior lecturer in biochemistry) from the Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre, Department of Biosciences and Chemistry. British Heart Foundation, alongside several commercial supporters, sponsored the event.

The conference provided a platform for both PhD students and early career researchers to not only present their findings, but to also network and foster new collaborations amongst various research groups to help advance vascular research.

Lauren Bateman (L) and Prachi Stafford (R) both presented at the event

The department was well represented with Lauren Bateman from Dan Kelly’s research group presenting her PhD findings as a poster and a one-minute flash oral presentation. Lauren also co-chaired a session. Both Dr Prachi Stafford and Dr Mari Herigstad also presented their research findings as posters.

Initial feedback from both exhibitors and attending delegates has been extremely positive. Dr Rob Wilkinson (Nottingham University) said: “I just want to say congratulations to the team from Sheffield Hallam University for organising a fantastic meeting. There was a great balance of superb talks, an excellent discussion session and the venue and catering were fantastic!”

Feedback from other exhibitors included “Amazing conference” and “A really useful conference which I will highlight to the company. We’ll definitely be back”.