BRCCH Image Contest 2022 Winners

The BRCCH was inspired by all the visuals submitted by BRCCH early career researchers to the second edition of the BRCCH Image Contest. We warmly thank everyone for participating.

A range of excellent images visually reflected the hard work and research done in BRCCH projects ranging from lab, clinical, field and modelling activities. Three winning images were selected based on aesthetics and alignment with the BRCCH scientific scope.

Marta S Palmierim (Swiss TPH) is working on a PII project. Her image shows a glimpse into a cross-sectional study conducted by her and her colleagues in the Kibaoni ward in Tanzania. Research assistants collected samples from participating children to check for different parasitic diseases such as soil-transmitted helminthiasis, schistosomiasis, intestinal protozoa infections, malaria and lymphatic filariasis. Dr Palmeirim is doing similar research in Uganda to study a combination drug treatment against soil transmitted helminths. Credit: MS Palmeirim

Keith Gunapala (University of Basel) is working on a PEP project. His image shows a mass of human embryonic stem cells that form in vitro and develop some of the organizational and molecular properties of organs, i.e., an organ precursor in a petri dish. These so-called embryoid bodies are useful models for Dr Gunapala's work studying Fragile X Syndrome and investigating potential therapeutic approaches. Credit: Nissim Benvenisty Lab, Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Prasad Nalabothu (University Hospital Basel) is working on a MIP project. Here, he and a mother check the fit of orthopaedic palatal plate to treat the baby’s cleft lip and palate until surgery can be safely performed. During his research visit to the project’s partner, the Cleft and Craniofacial Centre at Saveetha Medical College and Hospital in Chennai, India, he and colleagues applied a digital workflow involving artificial intelligence to produce the palatal plate using a 3D printer. This process was developed by the MIP project and achieved the project’s early milestone of adoption outside of Switzerland. Credit: P Nalabothu and Dr Praveen Ganesh.

    About the 2022 Winners:

    Dr Prasad K. K. Nalabothu is a research scientist at the oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic at University Hospital Basel. His primary research background is in cleft and craniofacial orthodontics, which he specialized in during his training in Taipei, Taiwan. He did his master’s degree in lingual orthodontics at the University of Basel and his skill set is complemented by his PhD in smart implants for tissue expansion in cleft palate defects of newborns. He currently contributes his expertise to a Multi-Investigator Project.

    Dr Marta S Palmeirim has a MSc in medical parasitology and PhD in epidemiology. She has mainly focused on the control of soil-transmitted helminth infections, and has implemented drug and health education interventions. Additionally, she has investigated potential nutritional issues related to these infections. In general, her interests lie in the field of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and their control, elimination and eradication, among other public health issues. Her work has resulted in a total of 15 articles in the peer-reviewed literature, of which 11 are as first author. Currently, Dr Marta Palmeirim works in a BRCCH Principal Investigator Initiative project.

    Dr Keith Gunapala is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Prof Verdon Taylor at the Department of Biomedicine of the University of Basel. In the context of a Postdoctoral Excellence Programme project that he co-leads, his research interests lie in understanding human brain development using organotypic culturing and cerebral organoids. He aims to use these platforms to better understand normal human brain development, neurodevelopmental disorders, and find novel therapeutic strategies. He holds a PhD from the University of Basel in neurobiology.

     

     

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