Clinical Academics in Training Conference

Registration for CATAC 2022 is now closed. This page will be updated with the livestreaming link to watch on the day. If you are attending the event please familiarise yourself with the Academy's safe space policy. 

If you have any queries regarding the CATAC 2022 event, please email us at: programmes@acmedsci.ac.uk.

COVID-19 measures

We are aware that for many of you this will be one of the first large in-person events you have attended since the COVID-19 pandemic started. With this in mind, please be aware of the following with regard to COVID-19:

• 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.
• These protocols are in place not only to protect the other attendees, but also with the forethought that many individuals in attendance will return to work the day after CATAC in hospitals across the UK.
• 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.

Abstract submission for CATAC 2022 will open on 11 January 2022 at 12.00, and close on 18 February 2022 at 16.00. There are three competitions for early career researchers who hold 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 Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh on 8 November 2018. 
• The next Clinical Academics in Training Annual Conference was due be held in Bristol on Wednesday 6 May 2020 but was cancelled due to COVID-19. 
• Previous events have been held at the Royal College of Physicians in London since 2015.

This event is generously supported by the Wellcome Trust.