Early December, and National Osteoporosis Society Annual Osteoporosis Conference, saw a busy few days for UK bone clinicians and researchers, not least those of us involved in organising, and contribution to, the meeting. The conference, held at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, 2-4 December, represents the foremost UK national clinical meeting focused on osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases. Members of the University’s MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU) have long been associated with the society, with Elaine Dennison chairing the Grants Committee and Editorial Board of Osteoporosis Review, Kate Ward and Nick Harvey serving on the Scientific Programme Committee and my own contribution as Chair of the Society from 2001-7.
The meeting, with diverse sessions across aspects of clinical care and research, included contributions from major national and international invited speakers, numerous oral and poster presentations of submitted work, and innovative “Meet the speaker” and “Meet the Expert” sessions. Indeed, it kept us all busy for the 3 day meeting, with our contributions ranging from invited plenary presentations, Meet the Professor Sessions, to poster judging and hosting international speakers. We were delighted that the quality of our work was recognised by the presentation of 4 Young Investigator Awards to junior scientific staff at the MRC LEU.
Thus many congratulations to Drs Beth Curtis, Millie Parsons, Michael Clynes and Nick Fuggle (all pictured) on winning prestigious Young Investigator Awards for the outstand quality of their submitted work. The investigators, who are all based the MRC LEU, each gave a short oral presentation of their work, and received the prizes at the conference awards ceremony in Birmingham’s International Convention Centre. Their work forms part of a larger body of work in which, through the MRC LEU, we aim to address the determinants of common non-communicable musculoskeletal conditions, such as osteoporosis, sarcopenia and osteoarthritis, across the lifecourse. These studies have made substantial contributions to this mission and I offer my warmest congratulations to our excellent young investigators!
Professor Harvey also offers his congratulations: “It is wonderful to see the quality of our discovery science recognised at this national meeting. These awards are hugely well deserved, and reflect the talent and incredibly hard work of these outstanding researchers.”
Professors Cyrus Cooper and Nick Harvey.