This prestigious award recognises excellence in research conducted by an early career researcher and is delivered at 3 or 4 locations across the UK and Ireland. This year, Manchester Metropolitan University has been successful in being awarded the R Jean Banister Prize Lecture from the Physiological Society. This year, the lecture was awarded to Dr Marie Holt, University College London, entitled: “Mind affects matter: Brainstem circuits linking stress, physiology, and behaviour” (https://www.physoc.org/magazine-articles/r-jean-banister-prize-lecture-mind-affects-matter/).

On the morning of 17/09/21, there will be a number of talks delivered by researchers in the Neuroscience research group in Centre of Bioscience Research and the R Jean Banister Prize Lecture delivered by Dr Holt. After the prize lecture, there will be a buffet lunch served and opportunities for networking. The event will take place in the South Atrium of the Business School and will bring together researchers from across Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as colleagues at other North West institutions and clinical partners to foster collaboration and networking.

Location: South Atrium, Business School

9:30am - Arrival with Tea/Coffee/Snacks

10am – Research in Neuroscience in CBS at MMU.

11am- The Physiological Society R Jean Bannister Prize Lecture; Dr Holt

12noon - Lunch

2pm - Depart

Abstract:

Dr Marie Holt, University College London

Mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, are increasingly prevalent and often occur in combination with cardiovascular disease and eating pathologies. Stress is at the heart of these disorders: even mild chronic stress has deleterious effects on appetite and cardiovascular function, and severely exacerbates anxiety and depression. In the short term, stress elicits a range of adaptive behaviours and physiological responses: decreased food intake, increased vigilance, and elevated heart rate and blood pressure. These short-term responses to acute stress are essential to the survival of the organism, but the same responses can become maladaptive when stress is chronic and unrelenting. Marie Holt has undertaken research which has revealed the importance of a group of neurons in the caudal brainstem that drive stress-induced changes in physiology and behaviour: GLP-1-expressing neurons. In this lecture, Marie outlined her studies of GLP-1 expressing neurons in mice, including their crucial role in appetite modulation, cardiovascular responses, and general arousal in response to stressful stimuli. With these fundamental neuroscience studies, Marie hopes to uncover novel targets for the treatment of stress-related disorders, including obesity and cardiovascular disease.