Registration to attend or compete at CATAC is currently closed. This page will be updated once we have more information regarding registration for CATAC 2023.
If you are attending an Academy event, please familiarise yourself with the Academy's safe space policy.
If you have any queries regarding the CATAC events, please email us at: programmes@acmedsci.ac.uk.
COVID-19 measures in place at CATAC 2022:
This information was circulated to all CATAC 2022 attendees priort to the event. These protocols were in place not only to protect our attendees, but also with the forethought that many individuals in attendance were due to return to work the day after CATAC in hospitals across the UK.
- If you or anyone you live with tests positive for COVID-19, or presents with symptoms of COVID-19, prior the event, please do not attend.
- If you have recently tested positive for COVID-19, please only attend if you can confirm you are no longer testing positive.
- We encourage you to wear a mask where possible during the course of the event, and particularly when social distancing is not possible.
- Hand sanitiser stations will be positioned throughout the venue.
- In line with government guidance and with the suspension of free lateral flow tests, we no longer require attendees to test prior to attending our events. If you are able to take a lateral flow test before the event, we would encourage you to do so, but this is not a requirement.
This event is generously supported by the Wellcome Trust.

Are you a clinical academic looking for a chance to present your research, perhaps for the first time?
CATAC is a great opportunity for you to:
- Develop your presentation skills.
- Meet with your peers and senior academics to build networks.
- Raise your profile within the clinical academic community.
- Meet Academy Fellows.
Feedback from CATAC 2018:
"The keynote speakers gave honest accounts of the career ups and downs of a clinical academic, and invaluable advice on remaining true to yourself, maintaining work-life balance and how to ultimately succeed as an independent researcher. There were interesting presentations covering a diverse range of academic disciplines."
"We left the meeting with broadened horizons and renewed enthusiasm for collaborative research and future careers in clinical academia."
Watch Dr Katherine Sleeman's keynote talk from CATAC 2018 here:
Check #CATAC2018 on Twitter to see what attendees thought on the day.
This event is generously supported by the Wellcome Trust.

We are not currently accepting abstract submissions for CATAC 2023 - more information will appear on this webpage when we have a timeline for applications for the next CATAC event.
There were three competitions held at CATAC 2022 for early career researchers with a medical, dental or veterinary undergraduate degree:
- Post-Doctoral Plenary Competition
This competition is for researchers with clinical qualifications who have passed their PhD viva (at the abstract submission closing date). If selected you will be asked to prepare a 10 minute oral presentation, to be followed by 5 minutes of questions from the audience. A panel of judges will score the presentations and there will be 1 winner, who will get £2500, and 1 runner up, who will get £750.
Winner 2018 - Dr Kate Marks (University of Leeds) 'An assessment of the mutation rate of normal colorectal epithelium in patients with cancer compared to patients without'
Runner up 2018 - Dr Muzaffer Kaser (University of Cambridge) 'Computational approach to reinforcement learning in patients with remitted depression: results from a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled study'
- Pre-Doctoral Plenary Competition
This competition is for researchers with clinical qualifications who have not yet passed a PhD viva (at the abstract submission closing date). If selected you will be asked to prepare a 5 minute oral presentation, to be followed by 2 minutes of questions from the audience. A panel of judges will score the presentations and there will be 1 winner, who will get £1500, and 1 runner up, who will get £500.
Winner 2018 - Dr Angela Lucas-Herald (University of Glasgow) 'Altered vascular function in boys with hypospadias - role of reactive oxygen species'
Runner up 2018 - Dr Duncan Brian (University College London) 'Forced expression of retinoic acid receptor alpha potentiates differentiation of acute myeloid leukaemia'
- Poster competition for all clinical academics in training
This competition is for all researchers with clinical qualifications, if selected you will be asked to prepare a poster to present at the conference. The posters are grouped by broad research categories and there is a 1 hour session at the conference for two judges, the competitors in that category and other attendees to visit each poster together. You will have 2 minutes to present your poster to the group and 1 minute to answer questions. The judges will score each poster in the group and there will be 1 winner, who will get £1000, and 1 runner up, who will get £250, from each group.
Group A - Applied health services research; Epidemiology; Population health sciences
Winner 2018 - Dr Zenas Yiu (University of Manchester) 'Risk of serious infection associated with biologic therapies in psoriasis: prospective cohort study from the British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register (BADBIR)'
Runner up 2018 - Dr Christoph Mueller (King's College London) 'Antipsychotic use in dementia: the relationship between neuropsychiatric symptom profiles and adverse outcomes'
Group B - Cellular and molecular biology; Genetics
Winner 2018 - Dr Claire Salter (University of Exeter) 'Exploring the neuropathological outcomes associated with different classes of choline transporter mutation'
Runner up 2018 - Dr Adam Sharp (Institute of Cancer Research) 'Novel strategies to target RNA splicing to overcome androgen receptor splice variant-7 (AR-V7) signalling in castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)'
Group C - Inflammation; Infection; Immunity
Winner 2018 - Dr Karen Mackenzie (University of Edinburgh) 'cGAS detection of micronuclei links immune surveillance to autoinflammation'
Runner up 2018 - Dr Tariq Farrah (University of Edinburgh) 'Endothelin receptor antagonism improves lipid profiles & reduces myocardial injury in patients with chronic kidney disease'
Group D - Neurology; Neuroscience; Imaging; Technology
Winner 2018 - Dr Zoeb Jiwaji (University of Edinburgh) 'Neuron-astrocyte signalling alters transcription to control CNS homeostasis and is dysregulated by ageing and anaesthesia'
Runner up 2018 - Dr Akila Visvanathan (University of Edinburgh) 'A qualitative study to improve communication and shared decision making on treatments after acute severe stroke'
You can watch the winning talks from CATAC 2018 here.
This event is generously supported by the Wellcome Trust.

CATAC is the result of the evolution of our prestigious annual meeting for clinical academics following an independent evaluation.
- The most recent event was held at the Bristol Harbour Hotel, Bristol on 19 May 2022.
- Before that, CATAC took several years off due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Previous events have been held at the Royal College of Physicians, London and the Royal College of Physicians, Edigburgh since 2015.
This event is generously supported by the Wellcome Trust.
