Where medicine meets art

Stunning images of cancer cells, groundbreaking tools for keyhole surgery and colourful chromosomes are among the winning entries of a photography exhibition staged by the School of Medicine.

The competition was designed to showcase the diversity of research being conducted in the school, which has established an international reputation in research areas such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and obesity.

The striking winning image, produced by Andrew Campbell, a PhD student who is sponsored by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland and is studying in the Division of Pathology and Neuroscience in the Medical School, shows a view of cancer cells stained for a protein implicated in disease progression in skin cancer.

"The winning images that have come out of this competition are absolutely stunning, but not only are they striking to look at, in many cases they can also give us a real insight into how our bodies work," said Professor Irene Leigh, Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing.

The second prize entry, from James Gove, a technician in the Division of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, shows an imaginative image of an endoluminal cone, a device undergoing development for use in keyhole surgery procedures. Third place went to Helen Sanderson, a post-doctoral research assistant in the Biomedical Research Centre, for her colourful composition of chromosomes visualised in human cancer cells, while fourth prize was won by a spider-like image of a nerve cell by Sarah Mizielinska, a Ph.D. student in the Division of Pathology and Neuroscience.

The competition, which was open to staff and students within the Medical School, was organised by Dr Jenny Woof, Reader in Immunology in the Division of Pathology and Neuroscience, in collaboration with Dr Wynne Carter, Head of Computing and Media Services and his colleagues.