NANOTOXICOLOGY 2010
Edinburgh Napier University, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and the Institute of Occupational Medicine, is hosting the Nanotoxicology 2010 conference in Edinburgh from June 2nd - June 4th 2010. The conference will address various aspects of nanotechnology including exposure assessment and characterisation of nanomaterials, human toxicology, ecotoxicology and risk assessment. The Trustees have agreed to provide a number of bursaries to enable students to attend this meeting, and have also offered a prize to be awarded to the best poster or oral presentation in human toxicology. The organising committee will select the students to whom bursaries will be offered. Details of the meeting can be found on www.nanotoxicology2010.org

EPICOH 2011
22ND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON EPIDEMIOLOGY IN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, OXFORD
This is the most important international conference on occupational epidemiology and will be held in the UK for the first time at the University of Oxford in 2011. The Colt Foundation has agreed to underwrite the conference organiser costs.

ELEGI/University of Edinburgh
A new grant was agreed in May 2009 for a one year study entitled "Mesothelial genotoxicity of carbon nanotubes in vivo". The Principal Investigator is Professor Ken Donaldson, with Craig Poland and Professor Bill MacNee. This one year of work is an extension of Craig Poland's Colt Foundation PhD Fellowship research that allows him to follow up the important results obtained so far. Craig can be contacted on s0577019@sms.ed.ac.uk

Imperial College
A grant was agreed to fund the salary costs of Dr Jessica Harris as a Colt Lecturer at Imperial College in occupational and environmental biostatistics. This funding started in 2007 and in early 2009 an agreement was reached with Imperial College to retain Jess as a Colt Lecturer for a further five years. Jess can be contacted on jessica.harris@ic.ac.uk

National Heart & Lung Institute at Imperial College
A grant to fund a two year study entitled "Does FEV1 predict capacity to work in an ageing population?" at a cost of £202,595 was awarded to Professor Paul Cullinan in 2007. Also involved in this work are Dr Joanna Szram and Dr Jessica Harris (Imperial). In May 2009 the Trustees agreed to a two-year extension to this project to complete Phase 2 and move on to Phase 3 at an additional cost of £138,032. Professor Cullinan can be contacted on p.cullinan@ic.ac.uk

Napier University
The Trustees agreed to fund a three year study at Napier University, led by Professor Vicki Stone with Dr David Brown and Dr Keith Guy (all Napier), and Professor Ken Donaldson and Dr Rodger Duffin (University of Edinburgh) entitled "The role of nanoparticle-protein interactions in determining the toxic consequences of nanoparticle exposure" at a cost of £287,282. The work will start in 2009. Professor Stone can be contacted on v.stone@napier.ac.uk and Professor Donaldson on ken.donaldson@ed.ac.uk.

University College London (UCL) Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research
A grant of £89,491 over eighteen months was agreed for work entitled "The impact of HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral therapy on mortality in South African platinum miners: 1992 - 2008". This work is led by Dr Pam Sonnenberg, who has previously been supported with a Colt Foundation PhD Fellowship, and also during her previous work in South Africa while based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The work is due to start in September 2008. Pam can be contacted on PSonnenberg@gum.ucl.ac.uk

ELEGI/University of Edinburgh
Craig Poland, who currently holds a Colt Foundation Fellowship in the ELEGI Colt laboratories at the University of Edinburgh, had asked the Trustees to consider funding the purchase of Comet analysis equipment to help with his work on nanotubes. This was discussed at the April 2008 Meeting of Trustees, and a grant was awarded to cover the costs. Craig can be contacted on s0577019@sms.ed.ac.uk

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The Trustees discussed an application for funding entitled "Trends in and risk factors for drug-resistant tubereculosis in South African gold miners" at their Meetinng in November 2007. Following further discussions and a meeting with members of the research team, it was agreed to fund this work over one year at a cost of £89,984. Dr Clare van Halsema, who will be based in South Africa for the duration of this work, and Dr Alison Grant, based at the LSH&TM, are the leading members of the team. Work commenced in April 2008. A six-month extension to the grant was agreed by the Trustees in March 2009, and work will now continue until September 2009. Dr Alison Grant can be contacted on alison.grant@lshtm.ac.uk

Swansea University
An application was considered in November 2007 for a study into the Genotoxicity of single walled carbon nanotubes to be carried out by Dr Shareen Doak and Dr Chris Wright at Swansea University, and the Trustees agreed to fund this eighteen-month study at a cost of £80,342. The work is intended to allow the researchers to determine the impact of single-walled carbon nanotubes upon genetic integrity, providing valuable data for future exposure risk-assessment. The work started in March 2008. Dr Doak can be contacted on S.H.Doak@swansea.ac.uk

University of Central Lancashire 
An application was considered and approved in November 2007 for work entitled "Mortality from lung cancer in the British cotton industry", to update a cohort study of some 3,500 workers in the British cotton industry and carry out an analysis of the risks of lung and other cancers. The updated data from this study will contribute to a large multi-national pooled analysis of cotton workers which is expected to be co-ordinated by the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer. The study will be led by Professor Damien McElvenny, with Professor David Coggon at the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre in Southampton, and Professor Dick Heederik from the Institute of Risk Assessment Science at the University of Utrecht. Professor McElvenny can be contacted on dmmcelvenny@uclan.ac.uk

University of Edinburgh
A grant was awarded to Dr Simon Brown, Professor Bill MacNee and Professor Ken Donaldson for a twelve-month pilot study into the use of zebrafish as a model for nanoparticle technology. Dr Brown can be contacted on simon.brown@ed.ac.uk

University of Edinburgh/Professor Ken Donaldson
The Trustees agreed to fund a further ten year Colt Foundation Professorial Fellowship for Professor Ken Donaldson, to enable him to remain on a full-time basis in the University's ELEGI/Colt Research Laboratories within the Centre for Inflammation Research in the Medical School. This Fellowship commenced in 2007. Professor Donaldson can be contacted on ken.donaldson@ed.ac.uk

University of Aberdeen
A grant was awarded for a study entitled "Workplace health surveillance for occupational skin diseases - diagnostic accuracy and reliability of a teledermatology tool". The work is led by Dr Finlay Dick, with Dr Markus Steiner, Dr Sean Semple, Professor Jon Ayres, and Dr Anthony Ormerod, and started in mid-2007. Dr Finlay Dick can be contacted on f.dick@abdn.ac.uk

Particle Toxicology
The Trustees agreed to sponsor 30 copies of a new publication by CRC Press - Taylor & Francis entitled Particle Toxicology, edited by Professor Paul Borm, Zuyd University, Heerlen, Netherlands, and Professor Ken Donaldson, University of Edinburgh. This book provides a unique look at the mechanistic toxicology of fine, ultrafine and nanoparticles on human pathology. Professor Borm can be contacted on p.borm@hszuyd.nl and Professor Donaldson can be contacted on ken.donaldson@ed.ac.uk

United Services Section of the Royal Society of Medicine
Following a meeting at the Institute of Naval Medicine with Surgeon Commodore Jim Sykes, it was agreed that the Foundation would sponsor the United Services Section of the RSM annual Research Prize from 2007. The Section Meeting is devoted to presentations by two military doctors in training from each of the three services. Abstracts are submitted to the Defence Postgraduate Dean during the year, and six speakers are selected. A prize is awarded to the speaker who gives the best presentation, with further prizes for the remaining speakers. This event is to be known as the Colt Foundation Research Prize Meeting from 2007.

University of Aberdeen
A two year grant of £141,000 was awarded to Professor Jon Ayres and Dr John Ross at the University of Aberdeen, with Professor Keith Palmer at the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre in Southampton for work entitled "The effects of metal particles on inflammatory response in welders and non-welders". Professor Ayres can be contacted on j.g.ayres@abdn.ac.uk

Napier University
The Trustees agreed to fund a three year study at Napier University, led by Professor Vicki Stone with Dr David Brown entitled "Investigating the mechanism of nanoparticle induced inflammation via activation of macrophages" at a cost of £189,372. The work started in October 2006. Professor Stone can be contacted on v.stone@napier.ac.uk

University of Southampton
At the Trustees' Meeting in November 2005, a grant of £64,650 was awarded to Professor David Coggon at the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre for a two year study entitled "Cross-cultural study of musculo-skeletal and other somatic symptoms and associated disability". A further grant to continue this work with a four year international collaborative study has also been agreed in principle, subject only to receipt of satisfactory individual proposals from the various countries concerned. Professor Coggon can be contacted on dnc@mrc.soton.ac.uk

University of Southampton
In November 2005, the Trustees agreed to fund a study led by Professor Keith Palmer at the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre entitled "Risk factors for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and non-specific wrist-hand symptoms: Real differences or part of a continuum?". The study started in September 2006 and continue for a three year period at a cost of £135,167. Professor Palmer can be contacted on ktp@mrc.soton.ac.uk

University of Sheffield
The Trustees agreed to a grant of £136,321 over a two year period to support a project entitled "Investigation of the effects of outdoor air pollution on stroke incidence, phenotypes and survival" to be carried out under the supervision of Dr Ravi Maheswaran at the University of Sheffield, in conjunction with Professor Michael Campbell, Professor Robert Haining, Professor Cameron McLeod, Mr Nigel Smeeton, and Professor Charles Wolfe. Work commenced in October 2005. Dr Maheswaran can be contacted on r.maheswaran@sheffield.ac.uk

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dr Pam Sonnenberg, previously supported through the Colt Foundation PhD Fellowship scheme, was awarded a grant of £108,746 in 2002 for a two year study with Professor Judith Glynn into "The effect of HIV on morbidity and mortality in South African gold miners". A further grant was awarded at the end of 2004 to continue the work. The project aims to assess mortality and morbidity in miners with known dates of seroconversion to HIV infection and compare them with miners who are known to be HIV negative. The further funding will support the analysis of the current data and the exploration of new data sources to see if they could form the basis for further studies. Dr Sonnenberg can be contacted on Pam.Sonnenberg@lshtm.ac.uk and Professor Glynn can be contacted on judith.glynn@lshtm.ac.uk

University of Southampton
A grant was awarded to Dr Ira Madan to fund an eighteen-month study into "The socio-economic and cultural influences on musculo-skeletal symptoms and associated disability". Musculo-skeletal disorders of the back, neck and arms are a major cause of pain and disability with substantial economic impact, especially in western countries, and although in some cases the symptoms arise from an identifiable cause, often the underlying cause is unclear and the symptoms are classed as 'non-specific'. This study examined whether such disability is influenced by cultural factors and health beliefs.

University of Aberdeen
Professor Jon Ayres was awarded a grant of £139,068 over five years for work on "Occupational and environmental exposures and health: human challenge studies". Professor Ayres plans to establish a multi-modal human exposure laboratory in which volunteers breathe in controlled concentrations of air pollutants in a specially constructed exposure chamber, while their physiological responses are monitored. This grant will enable the expansion of the work into autonomic and inflammatory responses to metal particles as well as providing the first occupational challenge facility in Scotland. Professor Ayres can be contacted on j.g.ayres@abdn.ac.uk

ELEGI (Edinburgh Lung and the Environment Group Initiative)/University of Edinburgh
Dr Rodger Duffin and Professor Ken Donaldson were awarded a grant of £176,267 over three years for a study into the "Mechanisms of nanoparticle and nanotube-induced pulmonary toxicity". Dr Duffin was supported through his PhD studies with a Colt Foundation Fellowship, and having spent two years working in Dusseldorf, has now returned to Edinburgh to continue the work with nanoparticles. Dr Duffin can be contacted on rodger.duffin@ed.ac.uk

University of Manchester
Professor Raymond Agius was awarded a grant of £307,866 in 2002 for work entitled "The interaction between work, the environment and genetic factors". The recruitment of subjects and the development of laboratory methods, so as to quantify human exposure to chemical toxicants, and to apply the methods so developed to human lung disease, is continuing. Professor Agius can be contacted on raymond.agius@man.ac.uk and through the website, www.coeh.man.ac.uk

National Heart and Lung Institute with the Royal Brompton Hospital
Asthma afflicts about ten percent of children in Western Europe, a figure which continues to rise. Its causes are poorly understood and undoubtedly complex. In part the disease reflects early exposure to allergens in the home, but this is probably not sufficient cause. The aim of the study is to examine which factors - environmental, infective and genetic - modify the role of allergen exposure in the development of the disease. The Foundation has been supporting this project, based in Ashford in Kent, since 1993, initially with a grant of £389,000 over five years, followed by subsequent grants to continue the work into 2007. The team was led by Professor Sir Anthony Newman Taylor.

Parallel studies - using the Colt protocol developed in Ashford - have started in Barcelona (Josep-Maria Anto), Menorca (Matias Torrent) and Munich (Erika von Mutius). In this way it will be possible to make comparisons with the Ashford findings, under quite different environmental conditions.

Further information can be obtained from Professor Paul Cullinan on p.cullinan@ic.ac.uk or Jessica Harris on jessica.harris@ic.ac.uk and the website for this project is www.asthmainashford.co.uk