Second year student wins research award
A University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) student was presented with a prestigious award at a conference which brought together more than 70 medical students from universities across the North West.
Jamal Khudr, a second-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student, was awarded the certificate for best oral presentation at the 2016 North West Student Research Conference.
Organised by the Royal Preston Hospital Medical Student Research Society, in partnership with the University of Manchester, the event aimed to encourage more students to undertake research projects.
Jamal’s presentation focused on the association between helicobacter pylori and peptic ulcer disease and overcame strong competition from 50 students from eight North West institutions, including fourth and fifth year students from the University of Manchester and the University of Liverpool.
Ahead of the conference, students were invited to submit abstracts for the opportunity to deliver a presentation, with Jamal’s work selected and subsequently honoured for its strength, the broad global context and the rigorous review conducted to gather data.
"I was surprised and overwhelmed to hear my name called, and very humbled. Presenting at the conference gave me an opportunity to see the wide array of research being carried out by medical students both in the UK and around the world."
The judging panel was made up of members of the Madagascar Medical Expedition (MadEx) group, which carries out research and annual trips to Madagascar to help treat schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease.
Jamal said: “I was surprised and overwhelmed to hear my name called, and very humbled. Presenting at the conference gave me an opportunity to see the wide array of research being carried out by medical students both in the UK and around the world. The potential to examine the large-scale impact of health and disease on human populations to advance medical research and education is limitless.”
Dr Jorge Garcia-Lara, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at UCLan’s School of Medicine and Jamal's academic supervisor, said: “I am delighted by Jamal’s outstanding achievement. He now has a more universal view of medicine and the award has encouraged him to explore the possibility of undertaking a Masters in Research in the coming years.”
The Royal Preston Hospital Medical Student Research Society is a student-led organisation based within the Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust, which aims to facilitate student interest in medical research.