After a year of detailed preparation and planning, Sonic Healthcare UK’s Research and Innovation Symposium took place in November 2024 at the Wellcome Collection.
The event was a feat of formidable logistics involving the coordination of 17 speakers, 10 poster competition judges, seven exhibitors and five sponsors. 165 people attended.
Sonic Healthcare UK Head of Research and Innovation, Dr Sarah Watters, was responsible for designing and managing the event. Here she gives her personal reflections on the hard work that it entailed.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
“I can’t deny that the prospect of developing the first Symposium after a break of five years was a bit daunting, but I am absolutely delighted with how it turned out.
“Of course it was a huge combined effort and I am so grateful to the many people who made themselves available to contribute.”
Sarah formed a small core team comprising Communications Officer, Michelle Joseph, and Medical Consultant Liaison Manager, Abby Parker, to lead on planning and coordination.
“I knew early on that I wanted to get input from staff across the company, and we started the planning process in late 2023 by forming a small focus group comprising staff from multiple disciplines.
“The group came together to brainstorm what topics would be of interest to them and their staff, as well as feed into what they felt staff should get out of the event. This is when we came up with the tagline ‘engage, empower, excite’.”
On the Day
“All the talks were fantastic”
“We were privileged to have Dr Stephen Fairy not only give a keynote talk, but also to clear time in his diary to spend the day with us at the Symposium.”
“One area I knew least about was the GIRFT session, and I really enjoyed this. Tom Lewis was an engaging, candid speaker, providing interesting insights into UKAS. The internal GIRFT session was also pitched at just the right level and with a much needed late afternoon high-energy boost from all of the speakers.”
Congratulations to the Poster Competition Winners
Sabina McCann, Deputy HoD, UCLH RRL Haemostasis
Caplacizumab resistance in immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) mediated by VWF A1 domain missense variant
Sahar Zargarzadeh, Quality Manager, HSL AD
Clinicopathological correlation of PD-L1 and CD8 expression in a series of 100 DNA mismatch repair protein proficient (pMMR) and deficient (dMMR) colorectal cancers
After the Event
“In the days after the event, the feedback started to come in. People went out of their way to send emails saying how much they had enjoyed the day, and express their thanks. We managed to do what we set out to achieve which was to put on a scientific event that would benefit our staff, that they would enjoy, and from which they would learn to empower, excite and engage!”
Special Mentions
A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the Symposium a success.
- The amazing speakers and poster presenters
- All of the poster judges: Dr David Ricketts, Anna Capps-Jenner, Dr Rachael Liebmann, Dr Lisa Levett, Oneal Joseph, Louise Bingham, Saida Solkar, Randa Bonis, David Allen. Special mention to those involved in longlisting including: Dr Jude Heaney, Dr Spencer Polley, Dr Rebecca Gorton, Etain Clarke and Simon Salter
- Andrew Clarke for saving the poster competition by helping presenters set up
- Siddra Noureen and Ebony Wood for managing the registration desk
- Emer Nestor, Etain Clarke and the Quality team for producing a great World Quality Day event in the Dale room
- The initial focus group members: Gulseren Akgul, Etain Clarke, Peter Short, Jude Heaney, Ayodele Morakinyo, Matthew Reed, Karen Orfinada, Richard Munden, Robert Hay, Robin Pryke, Kushen Ramessur, Siddra Noureen, Abby Parker and Michelle Joseph
- Last, but not least, Dr Rachael Liebmann for all her support, advice and input in the run up to, and during, the event
Just some of the feedback...
“Excellent quality of speakers”
“Great talks (especially when specialised topics were translated into layman terms)”
“Great to hear about new tests in development across the company”
“Good to hear Dr Stephen Fairy speak on the use of AI in pathology and seeing how AI and machine learning was being implemented in the laboratory”
“Great opportunity to meet with colleagues across the company and from different departments”
“Sophisticated, relevant, and highly scientific content”
“Great event showcasing Sonic Healthcare UK from innovations to improvements and future developments”
“Very useful and relevant day”
“Excellent range of speakers, excellent poster topics included”
If you would like to learn more about the event in detail, please visit https://www.sonichealthcare.co.uk/events