Scholarship Recipients

EAVA Young Researcher Career Development Scholarship Recipients

• • 2024 Lena Partusch (Ghent, Belgium and Leipzig, Germany)

Lena is a PhD student at the Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Ghent, Belgium. Her research focuses on equine exuberant granulation tissue, a second intention wound healing disorder. At the XXXIVth EAVA congress in Norway in 2023, Lena met Prof. Catrin Rutland, an expert in morphology, and discussed her PhD project with her for the first time. Prof. Rutland offered Lena a stay in her lab at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science in Nottingham to assist her in analyzing Picrosirius Red-stained tissue sections. This method is used to investigate the composition of the extracellular matrix.

On the 20th of January 2024, I travelled to Nottingham via Eurostar and arrived in the beautiful village of Kegworth, located 2.5 miles away from the Sutton Bonington Campus of the University of Nottingham. After spending a sunny day in the picturesque landscape of Leicestershire (indeed, there is sun in Great Britain), I was warmly welcomed by Catrin on Monday morning at the University. She introduced me to her team and we quickly began discussing our current research objectives over English breakfast tea.

I have been working on equine exuberant granulation tissue for two years, staining formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections with the Picrosirius Red method to distinguish between Collagen type 1 and Collagen type 3 under polarized light. Unfortunately, I previously encountered several issues during the sample analysis as black balancing and exposure time strongly influenced my generated pictures. However, I was fortunate enough to learn directly from Catrin, who has great expertise in this field. She had wisely booked the microscope for the week, allowing us to begin the training immediately. When working with Picrosirius red stained slides, it is crucial to adjust the microscope settings and environmental conditions accurately. Catrin demonstrated her picture generation process, which I then applied to my slides. We agreed that it is best for me to conduct the entire analysis at Ghent University using the same microscope all the time. I also shadowed Jorja, present MRes and future PhD student of Catrin, as she performed immunohistochemistry staining on osteosarcoma tissue. It is always useful for me to see how other people use techniques to improve my own processes.

 

Furthermore, I found it enriching to learn about the study system and teaching methods in Great Britain. This was particularly interesting to me as I studied in Germany, where we graduate with a state examination. The School of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences has an impressive range of equipment. I was especially amazed by the different training stations in their skills lab.

In addition to the laboratory and teaching experiences, I was able to expand my knowledge of British culture – we had a typical carvery lunch in the cafeteria and went for fish and chips in a pub. Despite two days of representative rainy weather, the rest of the week was filled with sunny hours and blue skies. I took advantage of this and visited Wollaton Park, a vast area in Nottingham where deer roam freely, and the Natural History Museum Nottingham is located.

On Friday, Catrin invited me to join her and her team at the Annual Symposium of Cancer Research Nottingham. This was one of the highlights of my week. The University’s main campus is impressive, with plenty of green spaces and modern buildings. I attended presentations by leading scientists in current cancer research and networked with other PhD students from around the world. As I am not very experienced in oncology, it was overwhelming to hear about the state-of-the-art treatments that the University is currently investigating. My weekend in Great Britain ended with a night in London, where I reflected on the last few days in the busiest city I’ve ever visited.

 

 

I am indescribably grateful for the opportunity to spend my scholarship at the University of Nottingham under the guidance of Catrin. She was an excellent supervisor who put a lot of time and effort into organizing a wonderful week for me. Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to EAVA for awarding me this scholarship and encourage others to apply for it as well. The scholarship provided me with the opportunity to gain first-hand insight into staining analysis from a leading expert. I was also able to exchange ideas and experiences with other PhD students, and we all agreed to continue our collaboration on equine wound healing. I departed from the United Kingdom, eagerly anticipating the YGVA 2024 in Zagreb, Croatia, where we will all have the chance to meet in person once again.

 

 

 

 

• • 2019 Dr. Kristýna Glocová (Brno, Czech Republic)
    
    

Kristýna is currently a postgraduate student at the Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Brno, Czech Republic. She is very passionate about anatomy teaching and new approaches in veterinary education. This is the first award of this scholarship by EAVA and it will help Kristyna to fund her professional stay at Nottingham Veterinary School, where she is gaining new experience in both the anatomy teaching and research. Kristyna was very delighted to receive this scholarship and will share her new experience with the rest of us upon finishing her stay at Nottingham Veterinary School.

2019 Scholarship Report

Dr.Kristýna Glocová, Brno, Czech Republic

I chose The University of Nottingham, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, for completing my month scholarship in order to experience and get to know different types of teaching. Despite being a relatively new veterinary school, it is already well established amongst world veterinary universities. It has very good ranking (42^nd) in the most recent ranking amongst the world universities. During my time I was familiarized with the organisation of education within the scope of my stay. I was introduced to many lecturers who informed me about their activities at the school and explained to me their way of teaching assessing students’ knowledge. I also had an opportunity to take part in lectures with students of the first and third semester. I attended an introduction to case studies with students in the tenth semester, which was followed by dissections and discussions. Part of my stay/visit contained practical radiography and ultrasonography which is closely linked to anatomy as at Nottingham anatomy is taught very closely alongside other subjects. However, most of my time I have spent in the dissection hall. Most lectures took up to 45 minutes and where longer lecturing time was required, breaks were taken after every 25 minutes, which certainly has a positive effect on attention of the students/participants. This is unlike what I am used to where most of our lectures are of 90 minutes duration. Another very positive thing I have found useful is the availability of all the teaching material/text online, so that students can readily access those at any point.  Their friendly environment also raises the fact that students call their teachers by first name not by their title. The last lecture of the week, taking place every Friday, was devoted to discussion mainly between two teachers who provided lectures of this week and students. Students could ask questions relevant to that weeks topics. After answering all questions there is always a quiz for students from the subject matter of previous week. A student with the highest number of points receives an award, which not only motivates that particular student, but all the others as well.  The dissection hall was equipped with screens and a big projection screen which most students appreciate. There is an unbelievable number of 150 students (year-class) who participate in each practical. The structure of practical lectures in dissection hall is perfectly organised. The students are divided into groups of four at one autopsy table. Each group has its own cadaver of animal on which they do dissection which is followed after the subject matter of given week. Students are required to set up all instruments at their autopsy table. During one practical there are usually four lecturers, one of which is the practical leader. The leading teacher makes a theoretical introduction and practical dissection of the particular area the students are expected to dissect by themselves. All of this is recorded via camera and streamed across the dissection hall.  The students work individually in their groups assisted by protocols. The protocols describe individual incisions, which structures should be found and what the students should focus on. The lecturers walk around answer questions and advise students. The teachers permanently initiate students to ask questions and whether they are satisfied and happy with lectures. There are books and atlases available to students during the practical lecture. The lecturers have models of individual species for better imagination of placement of individual organs and muscles. I was pleasantly surprised by the great emphasis on practical part of lectures during all classes. In the scope of one week, when the students learned about hind limb, they could try palpation of hind limb on live animals (dogs and horses). Then they could check and specify individual muscles by ultrasound. A stuffed animal dummy/toy was used for the right position for radiographic views. The students could also dissect required muscles. The dissection hall provides the possibility of several stations where the students could try adjustment of hooves and proper bandage technique of wound. The school not only provides high standard of education in veterinary medicine but also develops skills as sport, communication abilities, presentation, editing texts and takes care of students’ mental health and satisfaction. All students have their assigned tutor during their five-year study who they regularly meet. In my opinion, students of Nottingham Vet School are being well prepared for the veterinary profession.

In addition to my teaching experience, I had an opportunity to visit labs and scientific meetings which enriched me with new ideas and tips on how to approach and improve my postdoctoral study I am currently undertaking.

Dr. Catrin Rutland, who was my host, took an excellent care of me and my colleague Ewelina Prozorowska from Poland and in addition to professional education she made sure that we thrived culturally. Together we all wrote a scientific book chapter which has been accepted for publication, alongside another EAVA member and another intern (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92628). It was great to be able to acknowledge the EAVA in that book chapter for bringing us all together. We were also able to see the research facilities. We attended a scientific conference at the Royal Society in London and even got to see Buckingham Palace that evening. In our spare time we explored historical places of interest, made new friends and attended university events. It was also a month of floods, the worst Britain has seen for decades but it did not dampen our spirits.

I would therefore like to thank Dr. Catrin Rutland for making this great stay possible. I am very grateful for this opportunity and in addition to Dr. Catrin Rutland, I would like to thank particularly to EAVA board and the whole EAVA for awarding me this scholarship without which this stay would not have been be possible. I can only recommend that my fellow postdoctoral students take the opportunity of applying for the Young Researcher Career Development Scholarship which is available through the EAVA. 

Thank you for this opportunity.

Kristýna