Joint Colloids Group Newsletter |
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Message from the Chair: The Joint Colloids Group newsletter is back! It has gone through different incarnations, was put on hold for a short period, and is now reborn with a new look, and a format that we hope will offer more flexibility and easier access. 2018 has been another busy year for the committee. In addition to our well-established award meetings, which celebrate outstanding researchers at an early career stage (McBain), more established (Thomas Graham) or late career (Rideal); the MiBio meeting on formulations of biopharmaceuticals, held each year in Cambridge; a bespoke one-day meeting on Casting Dispersions in March; one highlight of this year has certainly been the Inaugural Early Career Colloid meeting, ECColloid18, held in Sheffield (17-18 September), the first event organised specifically for early career researchers in colloid and interface science. I am really pleased that this project – an idea which started a few years back! - has now materialised, thanks to the hard work of Fiona Hatton, Gemma Davies, Lee Fielding and Kirsty Stark. This new meeting, which is intended to run on a yearly basis, now provides a forum for UK-based early career researchers in colloid and interface science, to discuss ideas, network, exchange career advice and help bridge the gap between industry and academia. 2018 has been a year of new beginnings, as we have also partnered-up with our antipodean equivalent, the Australian Colloid and Interface Society, to start a UK/Australia exchange bursary. ECColloid18 hosted an early career researcher from Australia, Long Yu, and the Joint Colloids Group awarded a bursary to Alison Savage (U. Liverpool) to attend the ACIS meeting in Tasmania in February 2019. We are proposing to make this a regular travel bursary, which we hope will help maintain our strong links with the Australian colloid community… A conversation that had started nearly two years ago on a beach in Coffs Harbour (ACIS 2017) has now become reality! At this stage, work is well underway for the committee’s flagship event, our triennial international conference, UK Colloids. The fourth edition, UK Colloids 2020 will take place on 20-22 July 2020 in Liverpool, and I am told that this is likely to include a visit to the Beatles Story… Finally, look out for the very nice article by Brian Vincent on the career and life of the three scientists our awards are named after (link here). As always, we welcome suggestions for themes of future conferences, and we look forward to meeting you at future events in 2019! Enjoy your reading! Cécile Dreiss Chair of the Joint Colloids Group |
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New early career UK/Australia exchange bursary A new bursary to support Early Career Researchers (ECRs) was established this year to send a UK-based researcher to the 9th biennial Australian Colloid and Interface Symposium (ACIS 2019) to be held in Hobart, Tasmania (3-7 February 2019). This bursary aims to boost the career and visibility of a colloid scientist in the early stages of their career (within 10 years of PhD award) and reinforce the links that already exist between the Australian and UK colloid communities. This is a reciprocal initiative: the Australasian Colloid & Interface Society sponsored one ECR this year to take part in the inaugural Early Career Colloid meeting (ECColloids2018, #ECColloid18) held at the University of Sheffield last September. Long Yu, from the University of Queensland, presented his work on “Structure, Rheology and Molecular Assemblies of Densely Branched Hydrocolloids from Plantago Ovata Seed Mucilage”. The UK/Australia bursary was awarded this year to Alison Savage, from the University of Liverpool. Alison will receive up to £2,000 to attend ACIS 2019, going towards travel, accommodation and registration costs. Alison has secured an oral slot to present her work on the formulation of dual component solid drug nanoparticles for improved oral bioavailability of the anti-retroviral drugs Darunavir and Ritonavir. These solid drug nanoparticles (SDNs) are prepared using an emulsion-templated freeze-drying method, before using a spray drying approach for scale-up to manufacture. A requirement of the bursary is for the recipient to also visit a local laboratory during their trip to Australia. Alison will spend some time in the laboratory of Professor David Morton at Deakin University in Victoria, to strengthen her knowledge on powder engineering and help her develop her formulations into tablet or granule dosage form and optimise drug release. We are proposing to award this exchange bursary on a yearly basis, so look out for the next call in 2019! |
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UK Colloids 2020 International Colloid and Surface Science Symposium This is the fourth colloid science conference in this series and will be held in Liverpool from July 20th – 22nd 2020 on the riverfront with numerous hotels, Albert Docks restaurants and the Beatles museum all within walking distance! The meeting will provide a perfect opportunity for UK and international colloid and interface researchers to network and present/discuss issues related to current developments in our field. |
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McBain Medal Meeting 2018 Making and breaking colloidal assemblies: using chemical, physical, and mechanical stimuli to control soft matter Tuesday 11th December 2018, SCI, London Our Early Career McBain Award's recipient Dr Valeria Garbin (Imperial College, London) put together an outstanding list of speakers for this meeting. The day started with talks by from Prof. Lucio Isa (ETH Zurich) and Dr Erika Eiser (U. Cambridge), who described work with rough (raspberry-like) particles. Prof. Stefan Bon (U. Warwick) entertained with stunning descriptions of hydrogels achieved through the synthesis of novel latex particles. Before lunch, the audience was further treated to “flash” (2-minute) presentations by each of the poster presenters and they were also introduced to the technologies of each exhibitor. After lunch, Dr Paul Clegg (U. Edinburgh) described novel bijel systems with particles at interfaces, while Dr Lorenzo Botto (Queen Mary U. London) described modelling of graphene exfoliation. Finally, Prof. Bernie Binks (U. Hull) concluded a great range of presentations by outlining the role of fat crystal formation in the stabilisation of fatty foams. After a break the highlight of the day was Valeria’s talk presenting her outstanding work on the making and breaking of dispersions. The meeting was well attended (108 delegates) with – appropriately – a very high proportion of early career scientists, which bodes well for the future of the outstanding Early Career Colloid initiative (see above). The atmosphere was lively and there was a busy poster session adjacent to the exhibitors (Micropore, Anton Paar, Sanderson Technology and Fluigent with sponsorship from CPI), who showed their great technology and recent developments. Organisers Wim Thielemans and Andrew Howe owe a huge debt to Valeria for devising such an outstanding programme of speakers and also for her constant support and encouragement throughout the organisation of the meeting. |
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Dr Valeria Garbin (left) receiving the McBain award from the hands of Dr Cécile Dreiss, chair of the Joint Colloids Committee (photo generously provided by Brice Saint-Michel). |
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MIBio 2018 Stability of Biopharmaceuticals – From Molecular Interactions to Successful Products Thursday 15th November, Downing College, Cambridge The MIBio conference series engages world leading experts from industry and academia in a discussion in how the latest molecular interaction based discoveries can be exploited in biopharmaceutical formulation to produce more effective, patient-friendly and safer therapeutic products. With growing competition in the market, patient-centric product strategies, an increasing variety of products in development and more complex regulatory requirements, the demand for formulation of therapeutic proteins are increasing. In addition, the formulation patent landscape is becoming more complicated which further contributes to the challenge of development robust dosage forms. MIBio 2018 focussed on discussing these challenges as well as strategies to overcome them, particularly focusing on formulation, drug product development and device and regulatory strategies. We welcomed 89 delegates from industry and academia as well as 11 exhibitors creating an interesting and stimulating event fostering new collaborations and discoveries that will help steer the development of the next generation of formulation technologies. MIBio 2018 is organised by the Formulation Science and Technology Group (FSTG) and the Joint Colloids Group (SCI) of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) together with the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS). The event was held on 15th November 2018, Howard Theatre, Downing College, Cambridge, UK. |
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Early Career Colloid Meeting 17th-18th September 2018, University of Sheffield The Inaugural ECColloid meeting 2018 was a 2-day meeting held at The University of Sheffield on 17-18th September 2018. It brought together approximately 50 early career colloid scientists from industry and academia and provided a forum for discussion, networking and knowledge exchange. The meeting was attended by newly appointed (within 10 years of first appointment) academics and industrialists, research fellows and postdocs. The meeting was organised by Dr Fiona Hatton, Dr Gemma-Louise Davies, Dr Lee Fielding and Dr Kirsty Stark and generously sponsored by the RSC, SCI, Soft Matter, Polymer Chemistry, Unilever, Analytik, Postnova, Simadzu, Sanderson technology and Synthomer. The plenary speakers were Professor Steven Armes (University of Sheffield) and Professor Peter Dowding (Infineum UK Limited). Panel discussions providing advice on careers and how to ‘bridge the gap’ between academia and industry involved Dr Laura Fisher (RSC Journals), Dr Sarah Rogers (ISIS STFC) and Dr Lien Ngo (Innovate UK). Dr Long Yu from the University of Queensland gave a presentation thanks to the Australian Colloid and Interface Society exchange bursary and Dr Alison Savage (University of Liverpool) was announced as the recipient of a JCG bursary to attend the 2019 ACIS meeting in Tasmania. Betül Aldemir Dikici (University of Sheffield) was awarded the Postnova-sponsored poster prize. |
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Participants to the Early Career Colloid Meeting held at the University of Sheffield in September 2018. |
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