João has finished his secondment in our lab this week. Over the course of 3 months he characterised the mechanical properties of his osteochondral plug system and investigated the role of oxidative and ER-stress in OA progression. Yesterday we went to Alnwick to see the castle and the famous bookshop and drove back to Newcastle along the scenic coastal route.
It was an absolute pleasure to host João in our lab!
We are looking forward to seeing the analysed data and to catching up with João at the next CHANGE annual meeting in January 2026.
2024 was a very good year for the Pirog lab, with plenty to celebrate. Fran completed her project and generated lots of exciting data (watch this space for updates), Rachel successfully defended her PhD thesis (which we are now writing up into a paper!), Marc finished in the lab and started writing up his thesis, Anna generated a great set of preliminary data in the first year of her PhD, Gemma graduated from her MRes with a distinction, Maria made first great discoveries in her project, and Roufaida completed two secondments (one in Padova and one in Pavia) and generated data that will lead to publications and new investigation avenues. We also got MRC funding for an exciting project (led by Prof Mike Briggs and shared between Briggs, Pirog and Young labs) looking at drug repurposing for bone diseases, and we published two research papers, a book chapter and a review.
Well done everyone, and thank you very much for all your hard work and for all the fun times together. I have been very lucky to be able to work with all of you. Wishing you all a lovely Christmas break, and all the best in 2025! Kasia
We had a great time at the 1st Annual Meeting of the CHANGE project, organised in Vienna by Evercyte, one of our partners in the network. Vienna is an amazing city!
We had very productive 3 days talking about science, seeing the progress of our DCs, networking and training in public engagement, ethics, policy and EU regulations.
Our students have made great progress in their first year of PhD, made great friends in their network and during their secondments, acquired new skills and learnt a lot of techniques. They also presented at national and international conferences, engaged with patients and public, and contributed to book chapters and invited reviews.
We can’t wait to see what the second year brings. The next annual meeting will be in Krakow, can’t wait!
Exciting news! Our BLACK Box project is being continued as a permanent gallery space at Northumbria University!
BLACK BOX originated as a joint project by Louise Mackenzie from The Cultural Negotiation of Science and Kasia Pirog from the Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University. Opening the door on the inner workings of scientific research, Black Box is a curated programme of film works inspired by and expanding upon scientific themes. The programme showcases films by artists and researchers involved in a creative and critical engagement with the broad spectrum of the sciences, alongside films produced by scientists that provide insight into their research.
BLACK BOX3 expands the BLACK BOX concept in relationship with the Department of Applied Sciences at Northumbria University to create an interdisciplinary cinema and micro-gallery on the 4th floor of Ellison Building, Northumbria University. Following an interdisciplinary working methodology, BLACK BOX3 provides space for artists and scientists to cultivate a working relationship based around shared interests, leading to an annual exhibition and film screening via the BLACK BOX3 gallery.
We will have an official launch event for the new space on the 30th of November2023
Please hold the date and come see our new gallery then!
Meanwhile, here are some pictures looking back at the different iterations of the Black Box project:
February 2019 – Making the original Black Box:
February/March 2019 – Black Box pop-up cinema at the foyer of the Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University:
March 2019 – Black Box and Women in Film and Science Festival at the Lit&Phil, Newcastle:
February 2020 – Black Box at Genetics Matters International Rare Disease Day event, Newcastle University:
April 2022 – Black Box 2 at the Edinburgh Science Festival:
Friday night Skeletal Research Group (SRG) celebrations, celebrating Rachel Pearson (Pirog lab) and Adam Duxfield (Briggs lab) finishing lab work and getting ready to write up their PhD theses. Time flies when you’re having fun!
The lab has grown again, so we went to Beamish for a nice day out to get to know each other, and to celebrate. Welcome to our new PhD students, Anna and Roufaida!
We hope you enjoy your studies with us.
Unfortunately Fran couldn’t make it to Beamish (she was recovering from a mammoth ultramarathon (well done Fran!) so we Photoshopped her on 🙂
We had a lovely time at the congregations this summer, with Briggs, Reynard and Young labs, celebrating PhD graduations of Helen Dietmar, Dan Hayman and Marjolein Burges. Well done guys, and good luck!
We are back from the official kick-off meeting of the CHANGE MSCA Horizon Europe (https://www.change-msca.eu/) consortium in Pavia. It was great to see old friends and colleagues and make new links and friendships. Lots of exciting science and collaboration ahead and a cohort of amazing and very motivated doctoral candidates. Looking forward to great 3 years ahead, researching cellular homeostasis and ageing in connective tissue disease!
We’re back from the wonderful Cartilage Gordon Research Conference, and absolutely buzzing! Great friends old and new, and amazing science. It was so nice to be able to attend a conference ion person again, and to see everyone. Thank you Frank Zaucke and Farsh Guilak for organising a great meeting!
