4^th LSRNW Annual Drug Discovery Congress, Mercure Holland House Hotel, Cardiff; 29^th-30^th November 2017.

Our flagship event brought together researchers from across our projects for a 2-day conference to examine and showcase the diverse drug discovery research being undertaken across Wales. NRN PhD students expertly chaired the presentation sessions throughout the 2 days and judged the PhD poster displays. Members of the NRN Management Board and key stakeholders judged excellent presentations delivered by our PhD and postdoctoral project holders, culminating in awards presented at the Gala Dinner.

The scientific programme was further enhanced by presentations delivered by key-note speakers, including Professor Simon Ward from the Medicine Discovery Institute, Cardiff University; Dr Edgar Hartsuiker, Chair of the North-West Cancer Research Institute, Bangor University; Hugh Young Rienhoff, Chief Executive Officer of Imago BioSciences, USA and Professor Paul Morgan, Director of Systems Immunity Research Institute, Cardiff University.

Congress provides a valuable opportunity for stakeholders to examine the progress of their research, share views, exchange ideas and compare experiences whilst discussing theoretical approaches and best practice solutions for further research progression. Awards this year were as follows:

PhD presentations:

Winner: Juan Gonzalez, Cardiff University

Runner up: Kyle Fears, Cardiff University

Highly commended: Alessandra Cavaliere

PhD posters:

Winner: Emma Davies, Aberystwyth University

Runner up: Benjamin Skalkoyannis, Swansea University

Highly commended: Olivia Ogle, Cardiff University

Postdoctoral presentations:

Winner: Dr Polina Yarova, Cardiff University

Runner up: Dr Kathryn Peall, Cardiff University

Highly commended: Dr Samuel Meier-Menches, Cardiff University

Postdoctoral Impact presentations:

Joint winners: Dr Girish Patel, Cardiff University

Dr Nick Jones, Swansea University

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