James McKendry, Nathan Hodson and Benoit Smeuninx, PhD students within SportExR all won prizes in the highly competitive Young Investigator Awards competition, at the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) Congress, in Dublin this month. The ECSS congress rank among the leading sport scientific congresses worldwide, and welcomes up to 3000 participants from all over the world. One of the key objectives of the ECSS is the promotion of junior scientists and the fostering of state-of-the-art research, and our PhD students demonstrated excellence in their research at the congress this year.
James McKendry presented in the mini-oral Young Investigator Award competition, which involves delivering a short presentation followed by a series of questions and answers. James was successfully awarded 2nd place. James presented on: Preserved Skeletal Muscle Mass and Function in Chronically Trained Master Athletes Compared with Age-Matched Untrained Older Individuals. His PhD is focussed on utilising master athletes as a model of exceptional ageing and the regulation of muscle mass in these unique individuals.
Benoit Smeuninx also presented in the mini-oral Young Investigator Award competition, and was successfully awarded 3rd place. Benoit presented on: The Effect of Acute Oral Phosphatidic Acid Ingestion on Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis and Intracellular Signalling in Older Males. His PhD is focussed on the mechanisms of and countermeasures to age-related muscle anabolic resistance and sarcopenia.
Nathan Hodson presented in the Young Investigator Oral competition that involves a somewhat longer presentation followed by an extended discussion. Nathan was successfully awarded 4th place. Nathan presented on: Investigating the Role of VPS34 as an Amino Acid Sensor in Human Skeletal Muscle. His PhD is focussed on the molecular regulation of muscle protein metabolism.
We would like to congratulate James, Benoit and Nathan on their prestigious awards, and we wish them all the success with their studies.