In a celebration of research and innovation, the Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR) gathered for its third annual symposium to recognise the outstanding work of its researchers and professional services colleagues. The symposium incorporated research presentations from across the institute. Flash Talks, posters and IRR Innovation Competition winners.Professor Paul Martin from the University of Bristol, a leading figure in regenerative biology and wound repair, delivered a captivating keynote address. Professor Martin shared insights from his group's work in live-imaging and reprogramming of immune cells in wound healing and cancer. Winning presentations Twelve early career researchers presented 3-minute flash talks. Talks were selected by a volunteer panel from submitted poster abstracts. It was a close-run competition, but special congratulations go to the winner of the Flash Talks, Ellen McGregor for her talk 'Vaginal delivery of ibuprofen rescues delayed endometrial repair in a pre-clinical mouse model of heavy menstrual bleeding'. Researchers from across the IRR presented posters of their work throughout the day. A panel of judges awarded first prize to Jenny Riches, with runners-up AJ Boyland, Kellie Horan and Skye Jolly. Topics spanned from revolutionary treatments for spinal cord regeneration, anti-septic vaginal preparation for Caesarean sections in low-resource areas of Africa, and click-to-label liver-cell imaging of pharmaceuticals. These awardees show the depth of talent at all levels of the Institute, and the high quality of entries made for a difficult judging process. Ellen McGregor Jenny Riches Innovation: Translation for impact The winner of this year’s IRR Innovator Competition, Dr Dan Edwards presented his winning pitch on the development of a new diagnostic tool for Parkinson’s. The winner of last year’s competition Dr Ferran Nadal-Bufí gave an update on the progress of his project. A dedicated panel session chaired by Dr Dahlia Doughty Shenton explored the many ways research discoveries can be translated into real-world impact, bringing together perspectives from academia, industry, and the support available for translation of research. The panel consisted of IRRs Professor Marc Vendrell, Luca Cassetta, co-founder of Macomics, Alexios Papachronopoulos from Edinburgh Innovations, andLouise Arnold from InterfaceIt was wonderful to see how our colleagues are pushing the boundaries of regenerative medicine, inflammation research and reproductive health, and we look forward to another year of collaboration and discovery. Thank you to all our speakers, chairs, judges, poster presenters, and professional services colleagues and everyone who helped make the event possible and to our sponsor ThermoFisher for supporting the event. Panel members Marc Vendrell, Louise Arnold, Luca Cassetta and Alexios Papachronopoulos Symposium attendees networking during a break This article was published on Wednesday 10 June 2026
