From 7th-10th July, the MRC Toxicology Unit hosted the annual Integrative Toxicology Training Partnership (ITTP) Summer School. We had a fantastic week with excellent talks and posters from students, expert lectures and workshops from leaders in the field, insightful careers advice and great networking opportunities.
The MRC Integrative Toxicology Training Partnership (ITTP) is a national PhD programme that trains the next generation of toxicologists. The ITTP aims to combine the expertise of academia, industry and government agencies to ensure that early career researchers develop the required skills to be able to safely develop new therapeutics and assess the risks from different environmental exposures. Students embark upon a four-year PhD programme at organisations across the UK, from Reading to Liverpool and beyond. So far, over seventy PhDs studentships have been awarded covering a wide range of cutting-edge toxicology related topics.
Once a year the ITTP Summer School brings together ITTP students from all stages of the programme with leaders in the field from industry, academia and government agencies. This residential week, held at the MRC Toxicology Unit in Cambridge, allows the students to gain additional training across the broad field of toxicology and creates a crucial network for support and inspiration throughout their careers.
During the week, students present their own work to peers and take part in workshops and lectures. This year, topics included targeted protein degradation, cardiac safety, microphysiological systems and more. Speakers were Monica Rodrigo-Brenni, Jose M Vicencio, Toby Athersuch (AstraZeneca), Emily Richardson (CN Bio), Sophie Cable (Unilever), Chris Goldring, Amy Chadwick (School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool), Tim Hickling (Roche), Nicholas Casewell (LSTM), Sujath Abbas (GSK) and Adrian Liston (Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge).
Beyond the presentations, students and speakers enjoyed a networking dinner at St Catherine’s College, a highlight of the week. Huge thanks to everyone involved who contributed to make the week such a success, we are already looking forward to next year.