2023 BACR/AstraZeneca Student Travel Award Attending the 35th European Congress of Pathology, Dublin

September 2023 marked my first-ever international conference, and it was quite the experience! I had the opportunity to attend the 35^th European Congress of Pathology organised by the European Society of Pathology in Dublin, Ireland. The trip was generously supported by the BACR/AstraZeneca Student Award.

It all started with the usual process: identifying a conference that aligns with my research, preparing an abstract, and submitting it to the organisers. Luckily, my abstract was not only accepted, but was also selected for one of the Best Poster sessions under the Digestive Diseases Pathology - GI category. Since it was a five-day conference, I knew there would be a lot of interesting topics, but I was blown away by the sheer amount of incredible scientific discussion that was so readily available. There was a wide variety of pathology specialists, early career researchers, and industry leaders discussing the current shape of pathology research and how it could be improved.

As a PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow, I understand the importance of collaborations in helping the scientific community address healthcare’s most burning questions. I am fortunate to be part of a highly collaborative research project within the Edwards Translational Cancer Pathology Lab, known as INCISE, which aims to improve bowel cancer surveillance guidelines in the UK. Currently, people aged 50+ in Scotland who have blood in their stool are invited for a colonoscopy to investigate bowel abnormalities. If benign growths (polyps) are found, patients may be invited for a follow-up colonoscopy three years later, based on specific guidelines. These guidelines are currently based on very basic polyp characteristics. The research my colleagues and I are performing aims to better predict which patients will benefit from follow-up colonoscopies and which patients are safe to discharge from the surveillance programme. Due to the collaborative nature of my day-to-day work, I was especially interested in learning about large-scale international collaborations in pathology research.

I presented my research using a targeted sequencing technique known as TempO-Seq, developed by BioSpyder Technologies, to identify bacterial RNA in archival human tissue. This was the first time that this technique was used for this purpose, and luckily my Best Poster session presentation was met with interesting questions and discussion afterwards.

Me, taking some questions after I presented my work at the Best Poster session

The conference allowed me to generate new ideas for my own research, and visiting the exhibitor stands enabled me to connect with scientific representatives about new machines and technologies that can greatly help me with my research.

This wonderful opportunity has helped me begin to find my footing in the scientific community, share my research, and be exposed to groundbreaking findings from around the world. I am very thankful to BACR for making this possibility a reality and I would encourage anyone interested to apply to the BACR/AstraZeneca Student A

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