Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

There are more than 150 million new infections of T. vaginalis every year, causative agent of the sexually transmitted infection, trichomoniasis, making it the world’s most common non-viral STI. Many of these infections go undetected but untreated infection is linked to negative pregnancy outcomes and some cancers. In this talk I will give an overview of the T. vaginalis parasite, its biology, management and how we use modern sequencing technology to track and monitor these infections, globally.

Iain Greenwood will describe how cells known as smooth muscles (because they’re effortlessly cool) control everyday functions that we usually ignore but can embarrass us if they go wrong. He will highlight how our cells are electrical and how ion channels control flows of current to influence muscle activity. Tweaking the ion channels can have big effects. Along the way he’ll ask you to think about how small fish can be deadly killers; why a chilli tastes anything but chilly, and how listening to our hearts may help us have healthy babies.

Addiction is everywhere and affects everybody but current treatment has limited efficacy. The talk will focus on my bench to beside journey on trying to discover novel ways to treat addiction. Hot areas of current research in the field will be discussed.

Many studies have shown that music festival attendees are more experienced with illicit drugs than the general population. There is a major concern on how these drugs can be controlled and monitored, especially in nightlife settings. Whether it is for harm reduction or trend monitoring purposes, the core is always the identification of the actual active ingredients in the street samples. Advances in analytical techniques used on and off-site will be discussed during this talk, alongside some important results and over-time changes in the illicit drug market.