There’s many a Eureka! moment to be had during a career in medical research, with many a challenge to be encountered along the way. The rewards and excitement of discovering new facts are what drives researchers to work long and hard and often collaboratively with each other.

As a PhD student, Matthew Sanders of the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College London, is just at the beginning of his research career but has already had some great moments. Together with his supervisors, Professor David Carling, also based at the CSC, and Dr Michael Snowden who is Head of Screening and Compound Profiling at GlaxoSmithKline UK, Matthew is unravelling some of the mysteries of metabolism – the bodily function that has a role to play in how lean or fat we are. A broad series of fascinating interactions are involved in determining what happens to the food we eat to nourish our bodies to stay alive. Part of the groups’ research also focuses on some of the human diseases that develop when things go wrong.

The work that Matthew, David and Michael do together shows how this interesting collaboration between academia and industry can provide a very modern approach to medical research. By looking at what goes wrong with the body and how, helps researchers to develop drugs to target diseases such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. Matthew, David and Michael will share the stories of their research careers, the challenges and rewards, as well as some of the unexpected benefits that happen along the way and perhaps a Eureka! moment or two.

Matthew Sanders obtained his BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London in 2004. He is now studying towards his 2007 PhD in Biochemistry at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College.

Prof David Carling graduated from Bristol University in Biochemistry in 1984. He then went on to obtain his PhD from Dundee University. From 1992 onwards David has been group leader at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre and Professor of Biochemistry, Imperial College London.

Dr Michael Snowden obtained his PhD in Genetics and Microbiology from Liverpool University in 1990. From 1990 onwards he has held the position of Head of Screening and Compund Profiling at GlaxoSmithKline UK.

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