Harry’s president ... of the science world
A University of Sunderland graduate has picked up a prestigious national science prize for his final year project to improve patient outcomes following organ transplantation.
Harry Carr has been awarded the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) President’s Prize at a graduation ceremony at the Stadium of Light, having achieved a FirstClass Applied Biomedical Sciences degree for his project.
The President’s Prize of £100, plus certificate, is awarded to one student graduating from an IBMS accredited BSc Hons programme who has achieved academic distinction in a particular year who is also a member of the institute.
Harry, 25, said: “It was a wonderful surprise to receive the award, it’s nice to be recognised for the work I’ve done over the past year. I was happy enough to graduate with a first, so this prize is an amazing extra!”
Harry’s project, based on research by Dr Noel Carter, a Reader in Molecular Biology at Sunderland, focuses on transplantation and basic cell biology.
Organs intended for transplant can be damaged when the donor dies or during the transplantation process. The damage can accelerate the process of organ rejection,
Dr Carter’s work is currently focused on understanding one of the mechanisms which underpin this acceleration, with the hope of interfering with it to slow or stop it.
Harry’s role was to help in finding a way of reliably producing one of the protein involved so it could be studied more effectively.