
Celest Tay, who completed a 12-week undergraduate research project in Philip Cohen's lab in late 2023, has been recognised for the excellent thesis that she wrote up about the project and it’s implications. Celest has received a Highly Commended Award in the prestigious 2024 Global Undergraduate Awards Programme. This honour follows her earlier success in winning the Best Biomedical Project Poster Prize for the same project from the University of Dundee.
Under the guidance of postdoctoral researcher Tom Snelling, who supervised the project, Celest's research focused on understanding how a particular immune pathway is negatively regulated to prevent the overproduction of inflammatory mediators that cause inflammatory diseases to develop. In her thesis, entitled "A New Feedback Control Mechanism for the Regulation of ADP-Heptose-Induced Pro-Inflammatory Signalling", Celest discovered a new way in which a negative regulator operates to control the strength of the immune response.
On hearing of her accomplishments, Tom Snelling commented, “Celest was a dedicated student who made substantial contributions to the research project. Her commitment and curiosity were key to its success, and it has been a pleasure to watch her grow as a scientist and see the enthusiasm that led to her to return to the lab the following summer to carry out further research”.
Upon receiving the award, Celest commented that “I am incredibly grateful to Tom and Philip for their guidance and support during my time in the lab. Not only were they encouraging with regards to my lab performance, both Tom and Philip were also very generous in giving me advice on my career plans. My time in the lab has helped me build confidence as a researcher and fuelled my determination to pursue a career in academia”.
We wish Celest Tay every success in her future research career.
