Catch up on RDM Day 2025

Feedback described the event as a great chance to put faces to names and hear about the quality of research being undertaken across RDM.

This year's event took a slightly changed format with each of the main sessions including three lightning talks, whereby researchers were challenged to give a quick-fire, accessible overview of their research.

Those who attended described this feature of the day as an interesting change of pace, and engaging to both scientists and non-scientists.

The event centred around two main science sessions split into key themes for the Department; Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, and Molecular Medicine.

In the first main talk, Professor Leanne Hodson presented 'Dietary fat: where does it go?', explaining some differences between saturated and non-saturated fat and its impact on the liver.

In the afternoon, Professor Simon Davis delivered his talk 'A new way to study signalling pathways in T cells' - a type of white blood cell responsible for fighting infection.

Outside of the main talks, delegates had a choice of three session to attend including:

Nurturing a good research culture, chaired by Professor Naveed Akbar which included a workshop on why every lab needs a handbook by Maddie Welland.
Sharing research technologies across RDM, chaired by Associate Professor Bethan Psaila. The session showcased some of the facilities available for researchers to use across the Department.
Developing our people, chaired by Professor Thomas Milne, which included a talk by Susan Black from the University's Career Service about managing your career.

View selected presentations

The full programme can be viewed online and you can download PDFs of a selection of the presentations below:

Poster prizes

More than 50 posters were presented by students and post docs. After much deliberation, the judges awarded prizes to:

Mariana Pereira Pinho: 'Comprehensive characterization of tumor-specific CD8 T cells in HR+ breast cancer patients reveal an impaired antitumoral response in patients with lymph node metastasis.'

Jason Tong: 'Localised GLP-1 receptor pre-internalisation directs pancreatic alpha cell to beta cell communication.'

Prize-giving

RDM Day concluded with a prize-giving from Head of Department, Professor Keith Channon, to recognise the outstanding work of colleagues and students across the Department.

RDM Graduate Prize

Three students were awarded the RDM Graduate Prize for 2024; Jamie Kitt, Patrick Pflughaupt and Charlotte Brierley.

The prize is awarded annually to current or recently graduated students of RDM supervisors on the basis of exceptional achievement in their research.

You can read more about our winners on the RDM Graduate Prize Winners announcement.

RDM Graduate Citizenship Award

The Graduate Citizenship Award recognises students who have contributed significantly to the RDM community, fostering a culture of support and wellbeing beyond the normal expectation of a student member. This year, the award went to Megan Payne (Bhattacharya Group) and Charlotte Frazer-Morris (Hodson Group).

Awards for Excellent Supervision

The Awards for Excellent Supervision recognise exceptional contribution to education and excellence in teaching and learning support and mentorship of students.

The winners are Leanne Hodson and James Grist who were nominated by their mentees for their outstanding commitment to the development and wellbeing of their students.

Looking forward to RDM Day 2026

Thank you for all who took time to complete the RDM Day feedback survey. If you have any comments or ideas for next year's event, please email communications@rdm.ox.ac.uk. We're looking forward to next year's event which will take place on Tuesday 17 March 2026, at the Mathematical Institute.