The University of Birmingham’s College of Medical & Dental Sciences has announced the recipients of its first round of pump-priming Springboard Fellowships. This scheme was open to both internal and external candidates, with over 40 applications received. Of these, Dr Tianyi Zhang and Dr Joseph Wragg have been awarded the fellowship.
This competitive, open fellowship scheme supports early career researchers in developing their independent research programmes by allowing them to prepare proposals for prestigious personal awards like MRC/Wellcome Career Development Fellowships, NIHR Advanced Fellowships, the UKRI Future Leaders Scheme or ERC Starter grants.
I really look forward to moving to Birmingham, exploring new perspectives and collaborations, and integrating into the dynamic research environment.
Dr Tianyi Zhang, Imperial College London
Dr Zhang said “I'm a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow working with Matthias Merkenschlager at Imperial College London. My research focuses on understanding chromatin-based mechanisms of eukaryotic gene regulation. More recently I’ve also become very interested in epigenetic dysregulation in the context of disease. Outside the lab, I'm an avid consumer of pastries and history podcasts.
I’m delighted to have been awarded the Springboard Fellowship and grateful for the support from my mentors in ICGS. I really look forward to moving to Birmingham, exploring new perspectives and collaborations, and integrating into the dynamic research environment.”
I will use the springboard fellowship to develop tools and build collaborations supporting future career development fellowship applications.
Dr Joseph Wragg, University of Birmingham
Dr Wragg said “I am a postdoctoral research fellow in the field of paediatric cancer, with a particular interest in pre-clinical tumour modelling and vascular biology. My research is focussed on interrogating the tumour microenvironment and the impact tumour cell plasticity and therapeutics have on this.
I am excited to start my Springboard fellowship, which I will use to investigate vascular mimicry (VM) in paediatric sarcomas, mating 2D, 3D and in vivo modelling, 4D imaging systems and -omics data, to uncover the processes underpinning VM induction, organisation, stromal interactions and its clinical implications. I will use the springboard fellowship to develop tools and build collaborations supporting future career development fellowship applications.”
Both Dr Zhang and Dr Wragg will begin their Springboard Fellowships by the end of 2024, receiving support to further their career development.
