WCP2023 Poster Prize winners and runners-up

The Poster Prize-giving Ceremony at WCP2023, 7 July 2023.

The British Pharmacological Society hosted the 19th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology on behalf of the International Union and Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) in Glasgow, Scotland from 2 – 7 July 2023.

The call for abstracts for WCP2023 resulted in over 1,500 abstracts being submitted from 83 countries. The abstracts selected to be presented as either oral communications or posters at the congress can all be read in Volume 180, Issue S1 of the British Journal of Pharmacology: Abstracts of the 19th World Congress of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology 2023. The panel of 90 reviewers selected over 1,100 to be presented as posters throughout the six-day Congress. The 30 on-site judges reviewed the shortlisted posters and were all very impressed by the quality of work presented. The prizes were first announced at WCP2023 on Friday 7 July 2023, and were presented by the WCP2023 Secretary-General, Professor Amrita Ahluwalia.

We would like to thank everyone who submitted an abstract and presented a poster. Please join us congratulating the following winners and runners-up of the WCP2023 Poster Prizes:

Cancer Poster Prize

Winner: Maria-Francesca Nanì, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
'Pharmacological targeting of NAPE-PLD impacts obesity associated colon cancer '

Runner-up: Yasmine Amin, Egypt
'Simvastatin suppresses the in vitro proliferation of cholesterol-enriched MCF-7 cells along with tumor growth in an in vivo model of breast cancer'

Cardiovascular Poster Prize

Winner: Nicki Dyson, Queen Mary University of London, UK
'Nitrite reductase activity of liver-derived Xanthine Oxidoreductase maintains cardiovascular homeostasis'


Runner-up: Dr Nadine Godsman, Robert Gordon University, UK
'Chronic activation of GPR55 with novel agonist ML184 causes cardiac dysfunction in C57Bl/6J mice'

Clinical Pharmacology Poster Prize

Winner: Ting Yang, School Of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Sun Yat-sen Uninversity, China
'Biomarkers for the efficacy of azathioprine/mercaptopurine in patients with Crohn’s disease: a retrospective clinical study'


Runner-up: Dr Emma Magavern, William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London, UK
'Factor V Leiden and oestrogen use in the context of multiple common chronic medical conditions:
Analysis in the Genes & Health British-South Asian Cohort'

Drug Discovery/Development Poster Prize

Winner: Carlos Villarroel, Institute Of Health Research-incliva at Hospital Clínico Universitario De Valencia, Spain
'Synthesis of a novel polycerasoidol analogue with pan-PPAR agonism and low toxicity in neutrophils and endothelial cells'

Education Poster Prize

Winner: Dr Nilushi Karunaratne, Monash University, Australia
'How equipped are first year undergraduate students in navigating common teamwork challenges?'

GPCRs Poster Prize

Winner: Elaine Duncan, University of Glasgow, UK
'NanoBiT biosensors to investigate FFA4 signalling in adipocyte spheroids'


Runner-up: Marwa Kenawy, University of Glasgow, UK
'Detecting Constitutive Activity Across the Free Fatty Acid GPCRs using a Bystander BRET Arrestin Recruitment Assay'

Inflammation, Immunology & Infection Poster Prize

Winner: Andrew Thorne, University Of Calgary, Canada
'Investigating the role of the TGF-β activated kinase (TAK1) in the activation of NF-κB in pulmonary epithelial cells'

Runner-up: Dr Reya Shah, St George's University London, UK
'Population pharmacokinetic study of benzylpenicillin in critically unwell adults'

Natural products Poster Prize

Winner: Michael Ofori, Dr Hilla Limann Technical University, Ghana
'Betulin, a bioactive compound in Crinium asiaticum bulbs attenuates pulmonary fibrosis by down regulating pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory cytokines in bleomycin-induced mice model'

Neuropharmacology Poster Prize

Winner: Manan Bhatt, University Of Insubria, Italy
'Betaine: A substrate and the GABA modulator of GAT1'


Runner-up: Nairong Liu, University of Bath, UK
'Investigating buprenorphine blood and brain concentrations in mice following acute administration'

Other Poster Prize

Winner: Dr Simone De Luca, RMIT University, Australia
'Apocynin prevents cigarette smoke-induced social recognition memory impairments by preserving microglial profiles within the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus'

Runner-up: Dr Krisztina Pohóczky, Faculty Of Pharmacy Department Of Pharmacology at University Of Pécs, Hungary
'Identification of pathophysiological mechanisms and potential drug targets in endometriosis using transcriptomic analysis'

Pharmacogenomics Poster Prize

Winner: Dr Rossana Roncato, Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology at Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, Italy
'Feasibility of Panel of Pharmacogenetic markers Associated with Adverse Drug Reactions in Fluoropyrimidine and Irinotecan-treated cancer patients enrolled in the PREPARE study'


Runner-up: Abdullah Rahail N Al Matrafi, University Of Dundee, UK
'The Impact of CYP2D6*4 on the Survival of Tamoxifen Treated Breast Cancer Patients'

Safety Toxicology Poster Prize

Winner: Dr Qingfeng He, Fudan University, Shanghai
'Integrated Study of Hepatotoxic Components in Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F. based on DILIsym Modeling: A Dose-Time-Mechanism-Toxicity Strategy'

We hope you can join us at the next British Pharmacological Society annual meeting, Pharmacology 2024, taking place in Harrogate from 10 – 12 December 2024. Register your interest and we'll let you know when you can submit poster and oral abstracts for the meeting, as well as when registration and symposia submissions open.


Make sure you also register your interest for the 20th World Congress of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (WCP2026), hosted in Melbourne, Australia by ASCEPT in 2026.

For the most up-to-date information about pharmacology-related events, visit our events calendar and sign-up to our Meeting Updates mailing list.

Read Society President, Professor Clive Page's, blog where he reflects on WCP2023.