By Shannon Quinney

Although COVID-19 restrictions continue to disrupt travel, international collaboration continues to accelerate as the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS) held a successful virtual Innovation Mixer with the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore (LKC Medicine), a partnership between Nanyang Technological University and Imperial College London.

On 6 May researchers from the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS) and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKC Medicine) met virtually to discuss their world-leading research.

The meeting was opened by the Dean of Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, Professor Jonathan Weber and former Dean of LKC Medicine, Professor James Best.

The workshop was broken down into two sections, the first focussing on stem cells and regenerative disease, with LMS group heads Irene Miguel-Aliaga, Michelle Percharde, and Harry Leitch discussing topics ranging from sex differences in the gut and transposons to germline development. The second half of the session delved into the topic of metabolism and disease, with LMS group heads Louise Fets, Peter Sarkies, and Jesús Gil discussing tumour metabolism, epigenetic evolution and ageing.

Catalysts for the collaborative event Professor Dame Amanda Fisher, LMS and Professor Philip Ingham, LKC Medicine closed the session. They encouraged attendees to use the virtual networking at the end of the event to seed future collaborations.

Co-organiser for the LKC-LMS workshop Dr Santiago Vernia, LMS said:

“This workshop has highlighted the scientific synergies between groups at the LMS and at the LKC, and has established a framework for potential future collaborations.”

Co-organiser Professor Philip Ingham, LKC Medicine said:

“I am delighted that we have finally introduced investigators from our Medical School to the LMS and all it has to offer as a leading international centre for Medical Sciences. I look forward to seeing fruitful collaborations emerging from this very enjoyable and stimulating event”

Following the workshop, we hope to build upon the close ties between Imperial College London and LKC Medicine through a couple of fantastic opportunities for talented researchers:

•  The Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme which nurtures young research talent whilst conducting collaborative research between Imperial and LKC Medicine.
• The LKC Medicine PhD programme with the option for students to spend 12-18 months at Imperial College London.

The aim of our mixer events is to encourage collaborations between research groups at the LMS and researchers from other institutions/industry. Our next innovation mixer will focus on the Gut, involving researchers and clinicians from LMS and the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London.