Award successes for two CLAHRC EM researchers

Two CLAHRC EM researchers have capped a successful 18 months by claiming 11 awards between them, including national and international accolades.

Yogini Chudasama, PhD Student in Epidemiology, has secured nine, while fellow PhD student Dan Lane has achieved two prizes.

Yogini has been exploring multimorbidity and life expectancy, specifically the role of physical activity and other lifestyle behaviours.

Her work has so far led to the Young Researcher Grant of 650 Euros from the Luxembourg National Research Fund to attend and present her latest research at the European Diabetes Epidemiology Group (EDEG) conference 2019.

Additionally, she has achieved the prestigious prize for the ‘Best Presentation’ at the Trent Region Society for Academic Primary Care, St Marys Conference Centre, Sheffield, on Tuesday, March 13, last year.

She also took part in the 2018 UK Biobank Early Career Researcher of the Year competition, with her abstract entry placed in the top 20, which included an invitation to present research at QEII Conference Centre, London. Yogini followed this up by making the top 20 in this year’s competition too, where she will be presentingher research at The UK Biobank Scientific Conference 2019.

Yogini was also placed in the top 25 in the Doctoral College Images of Research Competition, for her work titled ‘Secrets to Living Longer, which was is being exhibitedin across various venues in Leicester. 

Additionally, Yogini was nominated to attend the NIHR summer school at Ashridge House, Berkhamstedfor the 10th NIHR Infrastructure Doctoral Research Training Camp 2019 and wasalsooffered a place to attend the 13th Cambridge Diabetes Seminar at Clare College Cambridge, University of Cambridge.

Yogini was shortlisted for the semi-final competition of the Doctoral College Poster Fair Competition 2019 and, finally, Yogini has picked up the CLAHRC EM PhD Travel and Research Award of £500for the European Diabetes Epidemiology Group Annual Meeting 2018 at Elsinore, Denmark.

Yogini said: “Having the opportunity to present my research at both national and international level has meant that I was able to build my confidence, speak to people from a wide range of epidemiological expertise, and understand my findings better. I had the chance to engage in the latest diabetes research and network for future collaborations. Overall, the conferences has inspired me to continue with my research and apply for a fellowship after my PhD.”

Meanwhile, Dan, who is developing new biochemical methods for non-adherence testing in cardiometabolic diseases, hasreceived two travel grant awards. He won £150 from Diabetes UK to attend the charity’s 2019 Professional Conference after an application process for the event’s speakers.

Winning this helped Dan part fund his attendance to the event and also furthered his application to another travel grant through the Biochemical Society, where he won £378.50. This involved writing a report in the style of an interview about his experiences from attending the conference. This is being publishing in the society’s bi-monthly magazine ‘The Biochemist’.  

Dan said: “My CV is now much stronger as a result of these prizes, and I’ll be more likely to win further awards and grants. They also allowed me to attend my first conference which is invaluable experience, so I’ll be aiming to attend others.”