2023 Science Writing Prize
If you are a current student carrying out health or wellbeing-related research at the University of Otago with an interest in communicating your science to a wider audience, the Otago Medical School Research Society Science Writing Award is for you.
We want you, in no more than 800 words, to tell us why your research matters in a way that would interest a non-scientific audience. Tell us about your research and why it is important. Why does it interest you? Why should it interest the reader?
The winning article will be published by the Otago Daily Times. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize with the runner up receiving a $250 prize sponsored by Kainic Medical Communications.
Judging criteria
Your writing will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Does the article answer the question why does my research matter?
- Does the article explain the writer’s research in a way that is easy to understand?
- Is it a compelling read?
The article must be based on the research you are doing or have done as part of your degree, diploma or summer project. This could be on the whole of the project or on one aspect, but it should not be a general review of the area.
The piece should be aimed at a non-specialist audience; written at a level that an interested member of the public could understand while conveying the significance of your research or key issues.
The rules
- The competition is open to all undergraduate or postgraduate students carrying out health-related research currently enrolled at the University of Otago. Past winners in this competition are not eligible to compete.
- One entry per author, and only one author per entry, submitted via the student’s University email address.
- The article should be no more than 800 words excluding references. Pieces with more than 800 words will be declined.
- A coversheet should include the title of your article, your name, email address, Department/School in which you are studying and your degree, a contact telephone number, and word count of your piece. Please use 12-point font without templates for the cover sheet.
- The article should be text only: no diagrams or tables should be included. Please use a 12-point font and double line spacing.
- Entries close at 5 pm on Friday 8th of September, 2023.
- Articles should be emailed to lara.vlietstra@otago.ac.nz with the subject line “OMSRS Science Writing Submission”. Articles should be attached and in the “.doc” or “.docx” file format.
- The judges’ decision will be final.
- The winner will be declared on 4th October during our 100th Anniversary Celebrations (details to follow)
- Any questions? Contact: Dr Lara Vliestra (lara.vlietstra@otago.ac.nz )
2023 Summer Student Award
265th Scientific Meeting of the Otago Medical School Research Society
The Otago Medical School Research Society’s 265th Scientific Meeting is the 2023 Summer Student Award.
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 26th April 2023 in the Barnett Lecture. In person attendance is welcomed, but you may also join by zoom (details below).
Ten Summer research students will present their work. Presentations will be 8 minutes long, with 4 minutes for questions.
The Pat Cragg Summer Student award will be presented to the best presentation, along with a prize of $500. The runner-up will be awarded $250.
This award is sponsored by The Otago Medical Research Foundation
Please join us to celebrate our emerging health researchers. Refreshments will be served from approximately 7.20pm.
Our speakers are listed below (in confirmed speaking order)
| Running order | Approx time | Participant | Title | Department | |
| 1 | 17.00 | Cole Melhopt | Retrospective Study of Compliance with Published Acute Severe Colitis Management Guideline in Colectomy Patients | Surgical Sciences | |
| 2 | 17.13 | Nicola Bicknell | Characterising the methylome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains endemic to Aotearoa. | Microbiology and Immunology | |
| 3 | 17.26 | Georgia Keelty | Characterizing transverse tubules in the right atrium of arrhythmic patients | Physiology | |
| 4 | 17.39 | Grace Kelly | Effects of chronic tinnitus on long-term potentiation in the rat hippocampus | Pharmacology and Toxicology | |
| 5 | 17.52 | Storm Voyce-McCulloch | Understanding how peroxiredoxins provide specificity in redox signalling | Biochemistry | |
| ~ 10 min Break | |||||
| 6 | 18.15 | Violina Gunawan | The stability of single-shade composite resins in the oral cavity. | Faculty of Dentistry | via Zoom |
| 7 | 18.28 | Jahman Naish Cochrane | Annual Incidence and Phenotypic Presentation of IBD in Otago New Zealand: a 25-Year Epidemiological Analysis | Otago Medical School | |
| 8 | 18.41 | Samantha Nie | Establishing force-velocity technique on isolated rat cardiomyocytes. | Pharmacology and Toxicology | |
| 9 | 18.54 | Willie Time | Ethnic inequity in academic outcomes at the University of Otago: A 5-year review of academic performance of Pasifika and New Zealand European anatomy students. | Anatomy | |
| 10 | 19.07 | Annie Leen | Identifying a new migraine-relevant receptor: potential paracrine interaction between calcitonin gene-related peptide and the amylin 1 receptor in the parabrachial nucleus | Pharmacology and Toxicology | |
Topic: OMSRS Summer Student Meeting
Time: 5pm – 7.30pm
Zoom Details: https://otago.zoom.us/meeting/94500565637
Passcode: 238091
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
(With your basket, and my basket, the people will be well)
Summer Student Award 2023 – Call for Abstracts
The Otago Medical School Research Society is proud to announce the Call for Abstracts for the 2023 Summer Student Award at the 265th Scientific Meeting of the Society.
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 26th April 2023 in the Barnett Lecture. An option for attending and presenting via Zoom will also be offered.
This award is sponsored by The Otago Medical Research Foundation
The Pat Cragg Summer Student award will be presented to the best presentation, along with a prize of $500. The runner-up will be awarded $250.
To be eligible for the Award, you must
- have not previously won this award
- report the results of health-related research that you have made a major contribution to, and which was performed during the most recent summer research fellowship under the auspices of the University of Otago, Dunedin.
Summer students wishing to present a paper at this meeting should prepare an abstract following these guidelines:
OMSRS Abstracts Guidelines and Template
Submit your abstract by completing this online form.
Up to ten abstracts will be selected for presentation at the meeting.
Abstracts and supporting documentation must be received by the OMSRS Editor on or before: Friday 17th March 2023
2022 Masters/Hons Award and AGM
The Otago Medical School Research Society’s 264th Scientific Meeting is the 2022 Masters/Honours Student Award and Annual General Meeting
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 9th November 2022 in the Barnett Lecture. In person attendance is welcomed, but you may also join by zoom (details below).
8 students will present their work. Presentations will be 8 minutes long, with 4 minutes for questions.
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 9th November 2022 in the Barnett Lecture. An option for attending and presenting via Zoom will also be offered.
A panel of judges will award $500 to the best speaker, and $250 to the runner up, sponsored by the Society.
After the 4th speaker, we will hold the Annual General Meeting of the Society at approximately 5:50pm, before the final four speakers. All are invited to attend the AGM.
Please join us to celebrate our emerging health researchers. Refreshments will be served from approximately 7pm.
Our speakers are listed below in confirmed order.
| Time | Speaker | Title | Co-authors | Department |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5:00 | Alisha Dabb | The cardioprotective agent oCOm-21 inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome assembly in cardiac ischaemia reperfusion injury. | Thwaite S, Payne F, Bland A, Harrison J, Sammut I | Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Biomedical Sciences and HeartOtago, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
| 5:12 | Haylea Rodgers | Identifying the optimal dose of dopamine agonists to initiate motor activity in a parkinsonian sheep model. | A Banstola and JNJ Reynolds | Department of Anatomy and the Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
| 5:24 | Yi ZhenTan | Carbon nano-onions as a novel and safe drug delivery system. | L Thomsen and RJ Rosengren. | Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. |
| 5:36 | Mia Pugh | Health outcomes of children in state care in Aotearoa New Zealand. | N Bowden1, J Kokaua2, P Dawson1, M Duncanson1 | 1 Department of Women and Children’s Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, 2 c Va’a O Tautai—Centre for Pacific Health Research, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
| 5:50 | Annual General Meeting | |||
| 6:05 | Break | |||
| 6:15 | Daniel Gray | Brothers discordant for gout have differing DNA methylation patterns in inflammatory genes. | Emily Ewers1, Amanda Phipps-Green1, Archie Campbell2, David E Porteous2, Stewart Morris2, Rosie M Walker2, Nicola Dalbeth3, Lisa K Stamp4, Tony R Merriman1,5, Michelle C Thunders6, Tanya J Major1 | 1Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin 2Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh3Department of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland 3Department of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland 3Department of Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland |
| 6:27 | Barnaby Kelly | Second generation curcumin analogue RL71, induces apoptosis via the regulation of growth signals in canine osteosarcoma cells. | RJ Rosengren2 | 1,2Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Biomedical sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
| 6:39 | Chole Schwass | Raji and Daudi B cell-lines are not appropriate models of blood-derived B cell responses to interleukin-10. | GS Stuart1, AJ Highton2, LM Wise1. | 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
| 6:51 | Harriet Spoelstra | The relationship between secreted amyloid precursor protein alpha (sAPPα) and the cell surface expression of NMDA glutamate receptors – a time-course study. | CM Westlake, JM Williams | Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
Zoom details:
Topic: OMSRS Masters/Hons Meeting and AGM
Time: Nov 9, 2022 05:00 PM Auckland, Wellington
Join from PC, Mac, iOS or Android: https://otago.zoom.us/j/93749579198?pwd=enNHdzQ4WkxTZVhCWUJXZWlrN1VYdz09
Meeting ID: 937 4957 9198
Password: 774481
Masters / Hons Student Award 2022 – Call for Abstracts
The Otago Medical School Research Society is proud to announce the Call for Abstracts for the 2022 Masters / Hons Student Award at the 264th Scientific Meeting of the Society.
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 9th November 2022 in the Barnett Lecture. An option for attending and presenting via Zoom will also be offered.
A panel of judges will award $500 to the best speaker, and $250 to the runner up, sponsored by the Society.
To be eligible for the Award, you must:
- have not previously won this Award
- be working towards a Honours or Masters qualification (including BSc(Hons), BMedSc(Hons), PGDipSci, MSc or other Masters degree in a health-related discipline
- either,
- have not graduated with the degree related to the work you are presenting, or
- have graduated with the degree related to the work you are presenting in the calendar year of the meeting
- report the results of health-related research that you have made a major contribution to as part of your Masters/Hons project, and which was performed under the auspices of the University of Otago, Dunedin.
Master and Hons students wishing to present a paper at this meeting should prepare an abstract following these guidelines:
OMSRS Abstracts Guidelines and Template 2022
Please submit your abstract by completing this online form.
Up to ten abstracts will be selected for presentation at the meeting.
Abstracts and supporting documentation must be received by the OMSRS Editor on or before: 5pm Thursday 29th September 2022
2022 PhD Student Award
The Otago Medical School Research Society’s 263rd Scientific Meeting is the 2022 PhD Student Award
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 17th August 2022 in the Barnett Lecture. In person attendance is welcomed, but you may also join by zoom (details below).
Ten PhD students will present their work. Presentations will be 8 minutes long, with 4 minutes for questions.
A panel of judges willl award the best speaker with $1000, sponsored by The Otago Postgraduate Medical Society. The runner-up will be awarded $500, sponsored by the Otago Medical Research Foundation.
Please join us to celebrate our emerging health researchers. Refreshments will be served from approximately 7pm.
Our speakers are listed below (in confirmed speaking order)
| Time (approx) | Speaker | Title | Co-Authors | Departments |
| 5:00 | Ian Liddle | Covalent chromenopyrazole chemical tools for the cannabinoid type 2 receptor. | M Glass2, JDA Tyndall3, AJ Vernall1 | Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, , Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Otago, Dunedin, School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin |
| 5:12 | Rakesh Bastola | Impact of lung fluid components on absorption of medication. | PM Young2,3, SC Das1 | 1School of Pharmacy, University of Otago; 2Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Discipline of Pharmacology, Sydney Medical School; 3Department of Marketing, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University. |
| 5:24 | Panagiotis Papaioannou | Lactation-induced desynchronization of the hypothalamic tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons. | J. Yip2, T. Georgescu3, S. Bunn4. | 1 Centre for Neuroendocrinology Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
| 5:36 | Anastasia Labudina | Using a zebrafish stem cell model to understand the molecular basis of Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. | G Gimenez1, S Ketharnathan2, J Antony1, JA Horsfield1. | 1Department of Pathology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 2Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) ,Ottawa, Canada. |
| 5:48 | Sung Kyong Lee | Association between parent’s childhood self-control and intergenerational tobacco smoking | RJ Hancox2, AR Gray 3 | 1-2 Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Otago Medical School, 3 Biostatistics Centre, Division of Health Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin. |
| 6:00 | Break | |||
| 6:10 | Mifra Faiz | Elevated Ca2+ flux plays a vital role in type I calreticulin mutations. | M Kalev-Zylinska2, T Kleffmann1, R Day1, EC Ledgerwood1. | 1Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ, 2Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, University of Auckland, NZ. |
| 6:22 | Sarah McQueen | Alpha-ENaC overexpression in MDAMB231 breast cancer cells reduces cell migration and proliferation. | HE Cunliffle2 and FJ McDonald1 | Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine |
| 6:34 | Kushan Gandhi | A Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Drug Delivery System for Parkinson’s Disease | Jason Gray1,2, John N.J. Reynolds1,2 | 1Department of Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin |
| 6:46 | Caitlin Berry-Kilgour | Decellularised seaweed as a novel biomaterial for treatment of skin wounds. | I Oey2, JD Cabral3, GC Dowd4, LM Wise1 | Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Food Sciences, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited, Nelson. |
| 6:58 | Chitra Krishnan | Evaluating the suitability of Electrolysed Oxidising Water as a denture disinfectant. | KC Li, KM Lyons, GR Tompkins, RD Cannon. | John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago. |
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
(With your basket, and my basket, the people will be well)
Zoom details: https://otago.zoom.us/j/93962079842?pwd=WGhER0lIWklzQlVEKytSTjZXWUVvQT09
Meeting ID: 939 6207 9842
Password: 510059
2022 Science Writing Prize (and a science writing workshop)
If you are a current student carrying out health or wellbeing-related research at the University of Otago with an interest in communicating your science to a wider audience, the Otago Medical School Research Society Science Writing Award is for you.
We want you, in no more than 800 words, to tell us why your research matters in a way that would interest a non-scientific audience. Tell us about your research and why it is important. Why does it interest you? Why should it interest the reader?
The winning article will be published by the Otago Daily Times. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize with the runner up receiving a $200 prize sponsored by Kainic Medical Communications.
To help you prepare, a free workshop on science writing tips will be available for all from Professor Lloyd Spencer Davis
Stuart Professor of Science Communication, Centre for Science Communication, University of Otago
22nd July, 12 :00 – 2pm
Zoom: https://otago.zoom.us/j/98822026125?pwd=N0pNTytOYTQ1OGlEWTJxU3dPNGs5dz09
Password: 864158
Judging criteria
Your writing will be assessed on the following criteria:
- Does the article answer the question why does my research matter?
- Does the article explain the writer’s research in a way that is easy to understand?
- Is it a compelling read?
The article must be based on the research you are doing or have done as part of your degree, diploma or summer project. This could be on the whole of the project or on one aspect, but it should not be a general review of the area.
The piece should be aimed at a non-specialist audience; written at a level that an interested member of the public could understand while conveying the significance of your research or key issues.
The rules
- The competition is open to all undergraduate or postgraduate students carrying out health-related research currently enrolled at the University of Otago. Past winners in this competition are not eligible to compete.
- One entry per author, and only one author per entry, submitted via the student’s University email address.
- The article should be no more than 800 words excluding references. Pieces with more than 800 words will be declined.
- A coversheet should include the title of your article, your name, email address, Department/School in which you are studying and your degree, a contact telephone number, and word count of your piece. Please use 12-point font without templates for the cover sheet.
- The article should be text only: no diagrams or tables should be included. Please use a 12-point font and double line spacing.
- Entries close at 5 pm on Friday 19th of August, 2022.
- Articles should be emailed to lara.vlietstra@otago.ac.nz with the subject line “OMSRS Science Writing Submission”. Articles should be attached and in the “.doc” or “.docx” file format.
- The judges’ decision will be final.
- The winner will be declared on 5th October Wednesday at 6pm in the prize giving ceremony at Hunter Centre Atrium.
- Any questions? Contact: Associate Professor Shyamal Das (shyamal.das@otago.ac.nz)
PhD Student Award – Call for Abstracts
The Otago Medical School Research Society is proud to announce the Call for Abstracts for the 2022 Summer Student Award at the 263rd Scientific Meeting of the Society.
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 17th August 2022 in the Barnett Lecture. An option for attending and presenting via Zoom will also be offered.
A panel of judges willl award $1000 to the best speaker, sponsored by the Otago Postgraduate Medical Society. The runner-up will be awarded $500, sponsored by the Otago Medical Research Foundation.
To be eligible for the Award, you must:
- have not previously won this Award
- either,
- have not graduated with your PhD, or
- have graduated with your PhD in the calendar year of the meeting
- report the results of health-related research that you have made a major contribution to as part of your PhD, and which was performed under the auspices of the University of Otago, Dunedin.
PhD students wishing to present a paper at this meeting should prepare an abstract following these guidelines:
OMSRS Abstracts Guidelines and Template 2022
Please submit your abstract by completing this online form.
Up to ten abstracts will be selected for presentation at the meeting.
Abstracts and supporting documentation must be received by the OMSRS Editor on or before: Friday 8th July 2022
Research Staff Award Meeting Announcement
The Otago Medical School Research Society’s 262nd Scientific Meeting is the 2022 Research Staff Award
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 22nd June 2022 in the Barnett Lecture. In person attendance is welcomed, but you may also join by zoom (details below).
Five researchers will present their work. Presentations will be 15 minutes long, with 5 minutes for questions.
The best presentation will be awarded $1000, sponsored by The Otago Postgraduate Medical Society.
Please join us to celebrate our health researchers. Refreshments will be served from approximately 7pm.
Our speakers are:
| 5:00 | Paulo Pelicioni | The “double-edged sword” impact of dyskinesia on the balance of people with Parkinson’s disease | School of Physiotherapy |
| 5:20 | Teodora Georgescu | Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation. | Departments of Anatomy and Physiology |
| 5:40 | Linda Hobbs | Seeking of help and support after experiencing sexual violence: Considerations for cisgender women, cisgender men and gender diverse people | Department of Psychological Medicine |
| 6:00 | Break | ||
| 6:10 | Paulomi Mehta | Reduction of lithium induced interstitial fibrosis on co-administration with amiloride | Department of Pathology |
| 6:30 | Caroline Decourt | Deletion of androgen receptors from kisspeptin neurons can prevent PCOS features in a letrozole mouse model. | Department of Anatomy |
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
(With your basket, and my basket, the people will be well)
Zoom details: https://otago.zoom.us/j/93318534786?pwd=UHhiK3ovb1BRcHFpR1lyUjRDbzUrUT09
Meeting ID: 933 1853 4786
Password: 497543
Research Staff Award 2022 – Call for Abstracts
The Otago Medical School Research Society is proud to announce the Call for Abstracts for the 2022 Research Staff Award at the 262nd Scientific Meeting of the Society.
This will occur between 5.00 – 7.30 pm on Wednesday 22nd June 2022 in the Barnett Lecture. An option for attending and presenting via Zoom will also be offered.
The best presentation will be awarded $1000, sponsored by The Otago Postgraduate Medical Society.
To be eligible for the Award, you must:
- have not previously won this award
- be a Research Assistant, Assistant Research Fellow, Postdoctoral Fellow, or Research Fellow at the time of submission or have completed a contract in one of these roles within the last three months.
- report the results of health-related research that you have made a major contribution to, and which was performed while employed in this role at the University of Otago, Dunedin, within the last three years
Research staff wishing to present a paper at this meeting should prepare an abstract following these guidelines: OMSRS Abstracts Guidelines and Template 2022
The deadline for abstract submission is 5pm Friday 13th May 2022.
Submit your abstract by completing this online form.
Up to five abstracts will be selected for presentation at the meeting. Presentations will be 15 minutes long, with 5 minutes for questions.
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
(With your basket, and my basket, the people will be well)
