Surgical Discovery Centre

Doing our bit and supporting our frontline NHS staff and colleagues at Addenbrookes hospital. Using our 3D printer to make parts for PPE - face shields. This is in collaboration with a wide social media collective - check out the link and if you have a 3D printer let's make even more 😀. #fightagainstcoronavirus

Here is the Facebook live interview that took place last night with our very own Professor Matthew Allen and Hannah from Canine Arthritis Management.
🐕Some great information shared about extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) and its potential benefits to your pet. Watch until the end for 10 top tips to keep your pet safe during this Covid19 lockdown🐈.
The SDC and Department of Veterinary Medicine are always looking for new ways to collaborate and share knowledge and this ...is a great platform to do just that.
For anyone looking for more information about up and coming studies please keep your eye on this page or for further info contact: clinical-research@vet.cam.ac.uk & check out Canine Arthritis Management for lots of more useful tips and community information.
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📢AOPEER Webinar announcement 📢
Join Dr Matthew Allen (UK) and Dr Alessandro Aprato (Italy) On Tuesday, April 7, 2020, 14:00–15:00 (CET) that’s 13:00-14:00 (BST) For an interactive webinar titled:... Step by step to a focused, answerable research question. Click on the link below to register and explore the learning objectives.
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How we are now conducting our weekly lab meetings in these Covid19 times. Whilst our lab work may have halted, there's still plenty of grants to write and journal's to publish in. Many of us have volunteered our time to either the NHS volunteer program or signed up for the numerous calls for research assistance into Corona.👊🧪🥼 #remoteworking #labworkfromhome

One for the locals! Calling all Cambridge scientists:
A Cambridge-wide information gathering exercise is being established to identify researchers willing to be involved with the local or national COVID response should the need arise. This could involve assisting in testing or research.
https://www.bioc.cam.ac.uk/covid-19-molec ular-biologists

Calling all scientists, researchers and anyone else that can help. Join this Crowd fight, an initiative to redirect scientific resources towards the fight against Covid19. Strength in numbers 👊

At the SDC we realise that the prospect of signing your pet up to a study can be a daunting and scary process. Even the term 'Clinical Research' can evoke a fear of the unknown and worry for your beloved pet. Hopefully, this post will help to explain what clinical research is and what governs the studies we conduct.
The Cambridge Dictionary explains:
Clinical – “used to refer to medical work or teaching that relates to the examination and treatment of ill people” #animals
... Research – “a detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new) information or reach a (new) understanding”
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We love to help out with teaching in the Department Of Veterinary Medicine and it's great to meet and share knowledge with our vet students.
This group of 5th year students were learning how to identify orthopaedic problems and come up with a treatment plan #futurevet #QVSH #SDC

Introducing the lovely Dotty! Dotty came to us recently for Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) to help with the ongoing management of her muscle contractures. She was a star patient and regularly took a nap during her treatments conducted by our Clinical Research Co-ordinator Nicola.
ESWT can help to treat a variety of conditions such as: osteoarthritis, tendinitis and stress factures. The shock wave energy is applied to painful regions where it can stimulate the body's own healing response and accelerate this process.
We can currently offer this service on a clinical basis to patients at the Queens Veterinary School Hospital and watch this space for future research announcements regarding ESWT. #QVSH #Starpatient #ESWT

At the Surgical Discovery Centre we are involved in lots of clinical research in collaboration with the Queens Veterinary School Hospital. Contrary to what the name suggests we are not just working in the realms of new surgical discoveries. Whilst the innovation of surgery and new techniques is a big part of our work we are also heavily involved in clinical research areas such as Oncology and Cardiology. Another topic of research is osteoarthritis in dogs and we have several ...projects evaluating different treatment options to help with this debilitating disease.
The SDC is headed up by Prof. Matthew Allen and our team consists of a group of veterinary surgeons, PhD students and a Clinical Research Co-ordinator.
For more information on current projects please look on the 'call for cases' section of www.vet.cam.ac.uk or keep an eye on our FB page for new study info and clinical cases that we see.
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In the Surgical Discovery Centre we are lucky enough to have the use of a dedicated Cell Culture room.
This room is full of equipment from incubators to specialised microscopes. They all help us to grow cells under controlled conditions outside of their natural environment. This allows us to learn more about these cells and aids our research.
Sara is one of our PhD students working on bone tissue engineering which includes the use of stem cells. Here she is adding nutrition medium to help her cells grow. #womeninresearch

Here is Valeria making use of our Biology lab whilst working on her Master's project. #MPhil

We had the privilege to participate in this year’s ORS meeting that took place in Phoenix Arizona, USA (7th -11th February 2020). Besides the networking and the inspiring sessions, Charlotte and Sara presented some of their PhD work on Pediatric Bone Cancer and Bone Tissue Engineering (respectively). In addition to taking part in the preclinical animal model section related meeting and workshop in which Matthew gave a talk about planning, preparing, conducting and reporting of preclinical studies.

We are delighted to see our colleagues awarded for their dedication to Veterinary Medicine. Huge congratulations!!

#Vetcam2019 in full swing, and proof of Ally's hard work yesterday😀. This is a brilliant opportunity for the students, a sneak peek of what is in store on their course, and a chance to meet their colleagues before October.

Lots of lovely visitors to the gait lab today as potential students visit the Department, filled with enthusiasm, and Ally has been a very helpful guide to lameness assessment! Sometimes the walkway just seems a little long........
#lamenessindogs #SDC #orthopaedics #caninelameness #surgicaldiscoverycentre #cambridgevetschool #vetcam2019