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Nutrition and Dietetics at Newcastle – A New Era! by Susan Lennie

Exciting times for the Nutrition and Dietetics team at Newcastle University!

As the new academic year is fast approaching, we prepare to welcome our first cohort of undergraduate dietetics students onto our new 4-year Integrated Master of Dietetics programme. The North East of England NHS departments have been asking for an undergraduate dietetics course for some time, so in the last year we have been planning and writing our course, successfully achieving Health and Care Professions Council approval and British Dietetic Association accreditation in January 2020.

Ms Susan Lennie, Senior Lecturer and Degree Programme Director – Nutrition and Dietetics

I suspect some of you are not too familiar with the work of dietitians, perhaps assuming that it’s mostly dealing with obesity, and telling people what NOT to eat. Well, I don’t quite see it that way. I’ve been a dietitian for over 20 years, in both clinical and academic settings, and I can tell you that dietetics is a really varied profession.

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My placement year at Leica Biosystems

By Alexandra Lazarova

A placement with a Cancer Diagnostics company – yes please!

I’m studying BSc Biomedical Genetics with Professional Placement Year and knew I wanted to do a placement year since my first year of university, when I attended a placement talk given by several companies. A year and a half later, after applying to several companies, I found myself in an interview for a placement year at Leica Biosystems in Newcastle…and ended up getting the position!

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My Final Year Project

By Liza Petrova, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences

Hi everyone! In January I began working on my final year project. In this blog post we will peek into a real neuroscience laboratory, check out the quirky equipment inside and I will share some details about experiments I do every day.

A bit of background

My project is about alpha-synucleinopathies, which are conditions where a protein called alpha synuclein (ASYN) is mutated and forms toxic “clumps” in the brain. Examples of alpha-synucleinopathies are Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

Image of hand shaking whilst holding a glass.
Parkinson’s disease. Photo by Alessandro Grandini on Adobe Stock
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My Summer Travels with Cryptosporidium

Rosie, our Biomed undergrad tells you of her experience working in Wales and Liverpool on a summer research placement

By Rosie Gathercole

Working with poo turned out to be exactly the summer experience I wanted!

I worked at the national Cryptosporidium Reference Unit (CRU) at Public Health Wales in Swansea with Professor Rachel Chalmers and her team. I received a Scholarship from the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM) for this placement, writing the application together with Rachel.

Rosie with a computer screen behind her showing the live spectra produced by the mass spec machine
Me working on my summer placement

Cryptosporidium is a parasite that causes diarrhoea, is found globally and is typically passed from animals, other people, food and fresh water sources. It is currently a human health issue due to the significant effect it has in developing countries and the lack of specific treatments to fight the parasite. Quite often how well you recover from the illness depends on how healthy you were to begin with!

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Transitioning from NUMed to Newcastle

By Dania Hammadi

It’s bigger, bolder, brighter.

That’s how I would describe my experience transitioning to Newcastle University from NUMed. Life is pretty similar; people are friendly, the teaching is amazing, the city is as beautiful as home. The only difference is that these things are all bigger, bolder, and brighter here in the U.K. And I’m definitely not complaining!

The red bricks of Newcastle University's Armstrong building looking glorious in the sun
The red bricks of Newcastle University’s Armstrong building looking glorious in the sun

The move from Malaysia was definitely a tough one. I grew up in Penang, an island just northwest off mainland Malaysia, and this was the only home I’d known. Moving 10-hours away to Johor to start my degree in Biomedical Sciences was scary enough, but NUMed turned to be a home away from home. We’re such a small, tight-knitted community, and on campus we could bond in ways students in a larger university wouldn’t be able to.

“Choosing to begin my studies at NUMed has been the best decision I’ve ever made!”

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The day I was asked to poison someone

By Dr Sarah Judge

When I got a phone call out of the blue from a screenwriter for Hollyoaks, the popular Channel 4 TV programme, asking for help with one of their upcoming stories, I was intrigued.

Why ask me, a scientist at Newcastle University, for help?

Top secret

I wasn’t allowed to know who, but the screenwriter wanted me to poison and kill off one of the soap characters.

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NuMED to Newcastle – Back to the UK… After 7 years!

“Things don’t change. We change.”

By Sabrina Amran, Third Year Biomedical Sciences student

Flatmates and I (in middle) visiting (and posing!) the med school for the first time!

The UK was a lot different in my childhood memories compared to how I see it as of now. 

Sure, ‘Wilkinsons’ became ‘Wilko’, and everything was a couple pounds cheaper 7 years ago. The weather now seemed sunnier and hotter as well…but I’m not sure how long this will last.

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Why Study Abroad?

By Dr Carys Watts

Going abroad may be a week’s holiday, or to some it’s going global or for longer, but have you ever thought about studying abroad as part of your Newcastle University degree? You could study abroad for a few weeks or up to an entire year, and it could change your perspective forever.

‘I can honestly say it was the best time of my life’– Eleanor (semester at Monash University, Melbourne)

Did you know you can study language modules for free at Newcastle?

I’m not sure it is for me

So you may think of reasons why not to do it, but there are loads of great reasons to give it a try: Continue reading “Why Study Abroad?”