Peter Beaconsfield Essay Prize - triple success

Mingcheng Xuan, a DPhil Student in the Stevens Group has won The Peter Beaconsfield Essay Prize for her essay “A Cobweb-Inspired Microneedle Platform for Synergistic Immuno-Metabolic Cancer Therapy“.
 
Mingcheng says, 'I’m incredibly grateful to have received the Peter Beaconsfield Prize. It’s rewarding to see the work on the bio-inspired microneedle platform was recognised, and it’s a real encouragement to continue pursuing research that I’m passionate about.'

Sarah Franks won a runner up prize for her essay “Beyond the battery: Developing a novel imaging assay to decode mitochondrial function”. Sarah, a 2nd Year DPhil in the Ryan Group says, ‘I am ecstatic to have been awarded the runner-up Peter Beaconsfield Prize for my essay. It’s incredibly rewarding to know that my writing successfully conveyed the exciting potential applications of my research to a broad scientific audience, and I look forward to bringing these ideas to fruition.’

Rea Tresa (also in the Stevens Group) was awarded a runner up prize for her essay "Developing a Vasculogenic and Immunomodulatory Granular Composite Graft for the Delivery of Stem Cell-Derived Beta Cells as a Cure for Type 1 Diabetes". Rea says, ‘being awarded the runner-up prize for the Peter Beaconsfield Award has been a deeply encouraging milestone in my DPhil. Working in the Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building – named after the scientist who elucidated insulin’s structure – it’s especially meaningful for our team to contribute to the next chapter in type 1 diabetes: one that unites engineering, physiology, and clinical insight to bring us closer to a cure.'

The Peter Beaconsfield Prize in Physiological Sciences is open to postgraduate students in Physiological Sciences (registered in the departments of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Pharmacology, Pathology, Biochemistry or Experimental Psychology), who, in the 12 months preceding the closing date for applications for the prize, shall have applied for transfer to DPhil status. This is the first time that all winners have been from DPAG and in lab groups in the Kavli since the competition started 10 years ago.