November 1, 2021, by School of Medicine

Presenting my Final Year Project at Physiology2021 – The Rob Clarke Awards!

Hi everyone, I am Kiara Abayasekara. It seems like yesterday I wrote my first blog post three years ago! Now I am graduating with a First-Class Honours in Medical Physiology and Therapeutics – time certainly flies! For my last blog post, as an MPT student, I would like to share my experience presenting my Final Year Research Project – ‘A Systematic Review on the Utility of Urinary Mitochondrial DNA as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker of Acute Kidney Injury in Adult Surgical Critical Care Patients’, at the Annual Physiological Society’s Conference, Physiology2021, Rob Clarke Award Presentations.

A bit of History – What is the Rob Clarke Award?

The Rob Clarke Award is presented in honour of Rob Clarke (1956-2004) – a Scientist, Physiology teacher, and member of the Physiological Society, who made important contributions to Physiology and the development of the Physiological Society. The awards provide a fantastic opportunity for undergraduates to experience presenting their research at the annual Physiological Society conference. Here is the website for more information on the awards and application process: The Rob Clarke Awards – The Physiological Society (physoc.org).

My Experience…

Upon having my research abstract accepted, I was invited by the Physiological Society to present my research at the Physiology2021 Rob Clarke Awards. This year, due to COVID-19, the conference was held online.

Prior to presenting at the conference, I had the opportunity to learn new skills, for example creating an ePoster, and using a virtual platform, from which I presented my research and attended other conference sessions.

The five-day conference began on the 12^th of July 2021. About 600 researchers, across 45 different countries, attended the conference from undergraduates to professors. The experience of meeting physiologists from a variety of research disciplines was enriching. Sharing ideas, experiences and obtaining advice was truly humbling and inspiring.

It was my first time presenting an ePoster of my research at a conference. As with any new experience, it was initially daunting, but I looked forward to discussing my research and sharing ideas. I had the opportunity to present twice to a panel of judges.

The presentations pleasantly took the form of a relaxed conversation about my research and any ‘pre-presentation nerves’ were supplanted by the excitement to share my findings and ideas for future research.

View my ePoster

I was also incredibly grateful to receive the Rob Clarke Abstract Award.

Overall, I am really thankful to have had the opportunity to present at the Rob Clarke Awards and would definitely recommend the experience to all MPTs!

A special thank you to my Project Supervisor, Dr Nikol Sullo, and the ‘MGEM3003 Research Project’ Module Convenor, Dr Mathew Piasecki, for their support.

Finally,

Good luck everyone, best wishes for the future!

Kiara Abayasekara

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