Catz Graduate Awarded Prestigious Pharmacology Prize
St Catherine’s College is delighted to announce that Joel Hargreaves (2021, Biomedical Sciences) has been awarded the prestigious Undergraduate Pharmacology Prize upon completing his time at Catz.
Awarded by the British Society of Pharmacology, the prize is consistently regarded as one of the highest honours for undergraduate performance in the biomedical sciences. The prize is awarded through a lengthy process of nomination of evaluation, and it is designed to recognise the achievements of final-year undergraduates conducting pharmacology research in the UK and Ireland. Winners receive £100.00, a certificate, and one year of free early-career membership. Honorands must be nominated by their university and complete an extensive final-year experimental project in pharmacology to be considered.
Joel was recognised for his research project, “The Role of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels in Antidepressant Discontinuation”, which investigated potential mechanisms underlying the often debilitating symptoms of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, more commonly known as antidepressant withdrawal.
Since leaving Catz earlier this year, Joel has started a PhD at King’s College London, where his work focuses on diabetes and the impact of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on the interplay of diabetes and blood glucose control. Though he is enjoying the new challenges and the change of laboratory scenery, he greatly misses the support he received during his studies at Catz.
Joel comments: “It is an honour to receive this award recognising the work put into my research project dissertation over the course of my final year. It was fulfilling to dedicate the year to researching an often overlooked aspect of pharmacological mental health treatment, that being the management of its cessation. I remain immensely grateful to friends and family and everyone who supported me throughout the process. I would specifically like to thank my project supervisor, Professor Trevor Sharp, and my director of studies, Dr Sumathi Sekaran, both of whom provided a framework for me to succeed. I also want to acknowledge the prior work of Dr Helen Collins and Michal Halicki and thank them for their help with getting the project started.”
St Catherine’s College extends congratulations to Joel Hargreaves, both on his undergraduate studies and on this distinctive achievement, and we look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.
Image courtesy of the British Pharmacological Society