The RDM Graduate Prize is awarded to current or recently graduated (within two years) students of RDM supervisors for exceptional achievement in their research.
Patrick Pflughaupt completed his DPhil as part of the Sahakyan Group. Patrick was recognised for his work on DNA fragility and its practical implications, and his work on producing a feature library that can be easily portable to any sequence-driven machine learning project. The judging panel also noted Patrick’s success in solving the long-standing unexplained phenomenon of Chargaff’s second parity rule – a fundamental rule in the understanding of the structure of DNA and its role in genetics.
Patrick commented: ‘I am deeply grateful to have been selected for the RDM Graduate Prize. The support, guidance and mentorship I have received in both the Sahakyan Lab and the wider RDM community have been invaluable throughout my DPhil studies and beyond. I’m working on publishing my remaining works in the coming months and look forward to continuing my contributions to the field of computation biology.’
Charlotte Brierley recently completed her Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship while part of the Mead and Psaila groups. Charlotte has been awarded the prize for her contribution to research in the field of chromothripsis – a cellular process whereby chromosomes shatter and reassemble themselves in a haphazard manner. Charlotte’s work marked an importance conceptual advance in the field and linked, for the first time, a specific chromothriptic event to a druggable target.
On receiving her award, Charlotte said: ‘I’m so grateful to have been awarded an RDM Graduate Prize. I would like to pay tribute to my mentors, Dr Bethan Psaila, Professor Adam Mead and Dr Elli Papaemmanuil, who have been incredibly supportive throughout this journey. I’ve learnt so much under their guidance, and it’s been very fulfilling to see the project come to fruition.’
Jamie Kitt is recognised for his work in the field of postpartum blood pressure control and the potential long-term benefits for maternal cardiovascular health. Through his research, Jamie has identified a new paradigm as to how we should understand and prevent links between hypertensive pregnancy and later cardiovascular risk.
Jamie said: ‘It's an honour to have been nominated for such a prestigious accolade. I am exceedingly pleased to accept this award on behalf of the amazing team in CCRF who worked with me on the POP-HT Randomized trial that formed the basis for this nomination.
‘None of this work would have been possible without the support of this amazing department, the Nuffied Department of Women's health, my DPhil Supervisors - Professors Paul Leeson, Richard McManus and Adam Lewandowski - and the collaboration and support provided by Professor Basky Thilaganathan at St George's and Professor Lucy Chappell at King's.’
The winners will each receive a prize of £500 and have been invited to present their work at RDM Day which takes place on Monday 17 March 2025.