Biochemical Society support in action: experiences from our community Open Access

Participating in the Your Entrepreneur Scheme (YES24) was an enriching, practical entrepreneurial experience that unfolded in three key phases.

The first phase involved forming a team, as I initially entered the competition alone. Thanks to Tracey, the program administrator, I connected with a former Postdoc from the University of Cambridge, now working at Abcam. Three additional members from Keele University joined us, completing our five-member team. Together, we brainstormed and refined a business idea, building a robust, scientifically grounded plan. Meanwhile, YES24 provided us with three insightful “Know-how” virtual sessions, covering ideation and business modeling, intellectual property and commercialization, and financial management. These were insightful, inspiring and helpful for the building of our team’s business plan.

In the second phase, we were assigned three mentors: a scientific expert from the pharmaceutical industry, a biotechnology business management professional, and an intellectual property specialist. Their guidance was invaluable in shaping our business plan and preparing a compelling pitch. Alongside our research, YES24 hosted weekly lunchtime sessions featuring fireside chats with start-up founders and industry consultants, offering practical insights into pricing strategies and business pitching techniques.

The final phase was dedicated to refining our team’s pitch. We held frequent virtual meetings, and our mentors provided crucial feedback before our 15-minute presentation at GSK’s Medical Research Centre in Stevenage. The setting was inspiring, and the event was well organized. Each team presented to a panel of judges, who challenged us with thought-provoking questions. While we didn’t win, a judge kindly provided constructive feedback.

The journey concluded with the final ceremony at the Royal Society in London, where winning teams showcased their pitches. Overall, YES24 was an invaluable learning experience, deepening my understanding of entrepreneurship, intellectual property, and business planning. It has given me the confidence and connections to pursue future entrepreneurial endeavours.

I am excited to have attended the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) annual meeting 2025 titled “MAKE IT POSSIBLE”, which was held at McCormick Place Lakeside Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA. The meeting attracted researchers from across the globe in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology. The President of ASBMB – Professor Joan Conaway – delivered the meeting’s official opening address, which strongly emphasized scientific advocacy and the need for collective efforts in advancing innovative discoveries. The meeting was divided into thematic areas featuring incredible presentations on cutting-edge discoveries. The keynote lectures and breakaway sessions were packed with insightful talks delivered through symposia, featured sessions, special events, career development, interest groups, seminars, workshops, exhibitor talks, meetups and poster sessions.

I had the opportunity to present my research findings titled "Antimalarial drug interaction insight–characterization of hemoglobin interactions with sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine", and the insightful feedback that I received will contribute to the future development of the study. Similar talks from co-attendees, particularly presentations by David Fidock on “Elucidating the molecular basis of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to antimalarial drugs”; Madeline Ganshert on “Investigating the glutathione-dependent mechanism of mosquito infection by malaria parasite Plasmodium” among other featured talks were also helpful in better understanding the recent discoveries in this field.

The meeting also provided an enabling environment for networking and engaging in meaningful conversation with many brilliant minds, including peers, lab owners, potential employers and collaborators from across the globe. Beyond the excellent scientific talks, the ASBMB presented different categories of awards to some individuals who have contributed immensely to the development of biochemistry and molecular biology. I want to thank the Biochemical Society for awarding me the travel grant to attend this prestigious meeting and present my research findings and beautiful experiences.

It was over in a flash—but let’s rewind the tape for a moment. First, the backdrop. After 4 years of chasing scientific dreams in Boston, I was ready to boomerang back Down Under and share my Harvard research with a home crowd. Melbourne’s city centre was already aflutter with excitement ahead of the AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground; but just across the Yarra, another kind of match was heating up.

In a rapid-fire, 1-minute lightning talk, I unpacked how domain-swapped crystallin proteins might reveal some secrets underlying biomolecular thermodynamics. No shiny trophies were at stake, but the atmosphere was electric, leaving everyone feeling like MVPs. Offstage, I wandered through the Centre’s matrix of meeting rooms and Melbourne’s charming lanes, lined with cobblestones and hidden cafés.

The showstopper for me? The symposium on using cryo-EM to capture dynamic protein complexes in high resolution. The conference was a gold mine for reconnecting with old mates and making new ties alike. The Melbourne Protein Group’s mixer along the river was the pièce de résistance—a chance to rub elbows with bright-eyed early career researchers (ECRs) and reminisce with colleagues from my PhD days at the University of Adelaide and postdoc years at the Australian National University.

It was also a reunion of sorts with fellow Sydneysiders, including Wollongong alumni, where my journey into science first began. In the end, the conference was a heady mix of stimulation and nostalgia, topped off with a stroll through Melbourne’s iconic bluestone laneways—where, like the proteins we study, the past and present intertwined beautifully.

Treatment of myocardial infarction (MI) involves rapidly restoring blood flow in occluded coronary arteries via stenting and antiplatelet therapies. Despite success in these treatments, heart failure post-MI remains a leading cause of death. A key challenge is ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, where reperfusion paradoxically causes tissue damage and often leads to blocked microvasculature in the heart, referred to as the ‘no-reflow’ phenomenon, linked to larger infarct sizes and reduced cardiac function. Clinical imaging tools cannot resolve microvessels smaller than 200 μm, hindering insights into the coronary microcirculation. Our lab has recently developed advanced intravital microscopy for the beating mouse heart during IR injury, a model for MI. This revealed that capillary perfusion was reduced due to neutrophil and platelet-rich microthrombi formation; however, there was no method in place for detection of fibrin, a key clot component that forms the fibrous scaffold of clots. The Eric Reid Fund has allowed us to expand on our novel imaging technique to directly visualise fibrin clot formation in the microvasculature during IR injury and determine the role of fibrin in the no-reflow phenomenon.

During this project, we successfully developed an intravital imaging technique to visualise fibrin thrombi in the beating mouse heart. The method development included experiments to ascertain whether it was possible to image fibrin formation in the cardiac microvasculature following the injection of fluorescently labelled fibrin into mice. These experiments were successful, and we developed the method further by identifying the timeframe in which fibrin was forming and whether it was associating into clots with platelets and neutrophils. We then used this method to determine whether treating mice with clinically approved oral anticoagulants could reduce the burden of fibrin-rich microthrombi in the cardiac microcirculation following IR injury. The results of this study were positive and are included in a soon-to-be-published manuscript. This research was also presented orally where it was well received at both the Platelet Society conference in Aberdeen, UK, in April 2024 and the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in June 2024 and was presented as a poster at the international society of Heart Research-European section (ISHR-ES) meeting in Toulouse, France, in June 2024. Overall, the Eric Reid Fund allowed me to run a successful project where I developed a new method and gathered interesting data that I have presented around the world. I am grateful to have been awarded this funding.

The BSCR ECR Symposium, held on 7 May 2025 at the University of Birmingham, provided a timely platform for emerging scientists in the cardiovascular field to share their research, build networks and gain career development insights. This meeting was conceived in response to the increasing demand for structured support for ECRs navigating a competitive research landscape.

Our aims were to foster scientific exchange among ECRs, provide opportunities for presentation and feedback, and offer tailored training and mentoring sessions to explore career paths beyond academia. Additionally, we encouraged ECRs to get involved as chairs and judges, roles that are often left for senior researchers. These goals were met through an engaging programme that included selected oral and flash poster presentations, a session on securing fellowships, a workshop on academic–industry transitions and keynote speaker session.

Scientific highlights included novel AI-driven algorithms for cardiovascular research, 3Rs-organoid development and metabolomic approach in cardiovascular science. The event also featured active panel discussions, promoting candid exchanges between attendees. Allocated networking times allowed interaction between participants and presenters.

Feedback from participants confirmed that the symposium provided both scientific inspiration and practical career guidance. Overall, 90% of attendees considered the event “excellent”, while 100% would recommend this symposium to other ECRs.

Our goal for the Biochemical Society supported Molecular Virology seminar series at the University of Surrey was to bring scientists working in different biomolecular areas relating to virology research to our research community and specifically to broaden the perspectives of our postgraduates and ECRs. We heard about cellular remodelling by coronaviruses from Helena Maier of the Pirbright Institute and how transcriptomic analyses can help us understand coronavirus tropism from Stathis Giotis of University of Essex. We learned about David Allen’s work at LSHTM on novel diagnostic strategies and how cellular stress impacts RNA decay and the transcriptome from Ben Towler of University of Sussex. Jo Kite, a postdoctoral fellow from the University of Cambridge and University of Surrey alumna, told us about the power of spatial proteomics to understand antiviral host responses. Ed Hutchinson visiting from the University of Glasgow wowed us with amazing images and insights into respiratory virus infections. Each speaker was asked to provide a quick summary of their career so far as part of their talk, so that ECRs could develop their understanding of different routes to research independence, and so we heard about fellowships, lectureships, core-funded organisations and the benefits of moving institution, region or country or not. A highlight for our ECRs was the opportunity to have an informal chat with our speakers following the seminar, with snacks of course, giving them the opportunity to ask further questions, share their own research and expand their network. As a result of these conversations, several of our ECRs now have plans to get further involved with learned societies and public engagement, having heard from our invited speakers how beneficial to their personal and professional development these activities can be. The seminar series was a great success, and we hope to continue it in the future with further ECR involvement in its organisation.