PhD student awarded junior travel grant from prestigious international society

Fan Bu, a final year PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Neuroscience, at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), received a junior travel grant awarded by the International Headache Society (IHS) after a competitive panel review.

This society is a premier professional organisation in the field working with others for advancing headache science, education, and management, and promoting headache awareness worldwide.

The grant of GBP 760 is to sponsor Fan to attend the 5th European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress from 15 to 18 September 2016, in Glasgow, UK, allowing him to present his recent novel research findings and attend a young scientist forum during the meeting.

Fan said: “This grant is open to applicants across the world and is competitive, only around 10 percent of applicants are successful. I am proud of myself for getting this grant and believe my research finding is novel and can be internationally recognised.”

In Fan’s application, he presented his recent work that reveals a previously unknown cellular signal, Src Family Kinases, which plays a key role in migraine pathology. He believes this “exciting” investigation distinguished him from other applicants with strong background and helped him get the grant.

“This grant is the recognition of his PhD research findings by a premier international professional body,” said Dr Minyan Wang, Fan’s primary PhD supervisor, from the Department of Biological Sciences and the director of Centre for Neuroscience at XJTLU.

Under the supervision of Dr Wang at XJTLU and the co-supervision of Professor John Quinn from the University of Liverpool, Fan’s PhD research on molecular mechanisms of migraine pain has resulted in two international peer reviewed articles, including “NR2A contributes to genesis and propagation of cortical spreading depression in rats” in the journal ‘Scientific Report’, with the impact factor of 5.578.

“Under the excellent guidance of professional supervisors at both XJTLU and the University of Liverpool, as well as the support of research staff in the Centre for Neuroscience at XJTLU, I made impressive progress in the past three years, which is very helpful for my future employability,” said Fan.

The 5th European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress is a premier international event for neurologists, physicians, scientists, researchers, international experts and healthcare professionals with an interest in migraine and headache disorders. It provides participants the opportunity to gather new scientific evidence and understanding for improving diagnosis and treatment of patients, as well the opportunity to network and build relationships with international colleagues and experts.

The International Headache Society is a professional organisation working with others for the benefit of people affected by headache disorders. The purpose of IHS is to advance headache science, education, and management, and promote headache awareness worldwide.