Joint Institute Day

The Gade Institute is situated in the Lab Building between BBB and Haukeland.

The Department of Biomedicine is situated in the BB-Building.

Xiao Liang from The Gade Institute. Foto: Kristian Jensen

Gyrid Nygård from The Department of Biomedicine.

The joint Institute Day for The Gade Institute (Gades) and Department of Biomedicine (IBM) took place on 02 November. In their opening speech, Anne Christine Johannessen and Rolf Reed emphasized the many common features of the areas we both operate in. The importance of being able to work across department boundaries regarding research was highlighted, but also in maintaining a high level of quality of the academic programs for the many students who start their careers with us. Attendance was impeccable. Auditorium 1 at BBB was full of interested people from all sections, who had shown up to hear the speakers. This was hardly a surprise, given that from the program touched upon such diverse topics as translational cancer research, dental disease, and career options available after completing a PhD degree.

Varied program

The Institute Day started out focusing on current research, followed by a presentation of some of the central courses taught by the respectable departments. Researchers from IBM and Gades gave talks on academic topics, while course administrators outlined some of our most extensive and important courses. The review provided a useful overview of what "the others" are teaching. Finally, the faculty was urged to pay attention to the administrative and academic teaching challenges, regarding the plans for a new medical school program.

Technology platforms and life after a PhD

After lunch, technology platforms MIC, PROBE, Flow Cytometry and Nanotechnology offered guided tours in their respective areas, distributed over several locations in both the lab building and BBB. The remaining audience listened as the final speakers of the day shared their experiences on the topic "Completed PhD – what now?" chaired by Inderjit Daphu and Hrvoje Miletic from IBM. The speakers – hailing from such diverse fields as non-profit organizations, research management, and municipality administration – conveyed their experiences as young researchers with a PhD degree on their CVs. This feature of the program proved to be very popular, with an enthusiastic audience asking eagerly about job markets, pitfalls, and career options within and outside the world of science. The level of interest in the program's final session showed the wide range of expertise candidates acquire by a long education in medical research, as well as the need to highlight the variety of opportunities for those who choose this path.

Two young researchers from Gade and IBM - a brief presentation

Xiao Liang is currently a PhD candidate at the Bergen Oral Cancer Research Group, Gades. At the joint Institute Day, Liang presented a poster related to her current research which involves the study of oral cancer stem cell-like cells capable of unlimited self-renewal and initiation of new tumours. Through isolating these cells one may be able to map and study the development of oral cancer more thoroughly.

Although Liang’s work place is at the Gade Institute, one of her co-supervisors is Jian Wang, researcher at the Department of Biomedicine. Wang’s primary field of study is brain cancer, but the methodologies involved are similar, and this collaboration allows for a dynamic exchange of ideas between the research groups situated at the two departments.

Gyrid Nygård is engaged as a PhD candidate in the Translational Signaling Group at IBM. Her research is evolving around studying the protein EPAC1, and Gyrid focuses specifically on the role EPAC1 plays in platelets and in the neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y. As Liang, Nygård’s current work was also displayed by a poster presentation at BBB on Wednesday.

Gyrid is currently not engaged in any collaboration projects with the Gade Institute, but says she has been inspired by the Institute Day; hoping that increased cooperation between the two departments may take place in the future - also within her own field of research.