Loke CTR Journal Club
What is the aim of the Journal Club?
The goal of the Loke CTR Journal Club is to discuss cutting edge research articles focusing on the cellular and molecular biology of placental development and function, not only in humans but also in model organisms and cell culture systems. This includes the following topics: epigenetic regulation, lineage specification, implantation, trophoblast differentiation, placental structure and function, and maternal-fetal interactions during pregnancy.
The journal club provides Loke CTR members and other researchers alike a friendly environment to familiarize themselves with the current literature, to critique experimental design and to have informal discussions about the "Big Picture" regarding the biology of the trophoblast lineage, the placenta and pregnancy.
This year the Journal Club will complement the Loke CTR Seminar Series by discussing research from the lab of the invited seminar speaker. This way we aim to increase early career researchers’ immersion, understanding and enjoyment of the field of placental research.
The journal club will take place in the Greaves Room, Department of Pathology and hybrid on Teams from 14:00-15:00 on the same day as the Loke CTR Seminar.
Anyone at the University of Cambridge or allied institutes who has an affinity for placental development is welcome to attend the Loke CTR journal club. To receive emails with updates about the journal club please join the Loke CTR mailing list.
Loke CTR Journal Club Meeting Schedule (2025-2026)
| Date | Speaker | Title |
| 25 November 2025 | Georgia Lea | "A co-ordinated transcriptional programme in the maternal liver supplies long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to the conceptus using phospholipids" |
| 25 February 2026 | Holly Bachas Brook | "Cell size and polarization determine cytokinesis furrow ingression dynamics in mouse embryos" |
| 17 March 2026 | Riley McMahon | "Intercellular communication in the early human embryo" |
| 29 April 2026 | Sik Yin Ho | "Unraveling hallmark suitability for staging pre- and post-implantation stem cell models" |
| 27 May 2026 | Shuwen He | "Disruption of histone methylation in developing sperm impairs offspring health transgenerationally" |
| 2 June 2026 | Thomas Rawlings | “Convergent gene expression in endometrial epithelial cells illuminates the evolution of uterine receptivity” |
| 29 June 2026 | Adam Bendall | "Divergent roles of DNA methylation, TRIM28, and p53 surveillance in human embryonic and trophoblast stem cells" |
How does the journal club work?
For Attendees
A link to the article that will be discussed will be sent to the Loke CTR mailing list at least one week in advance. This will ensure that everyone has a chance to read the article before the meeting.
At each meeting, the presenter will spend about 20 min explaining the premise of the chosen article and why (or why not) they deem it to be important to the field. Attendees will then use about 10 min to collectively discuss and critique the chosen paper. The meetings are fairly informal to encourage discussion throughout the presentation.
The presentation will be followed by about 30 min informal networking between attendees with snacks and drinks provided by the organising committee with financial support from the Loke CTR.
For Presenters
Two weeks before your presentation date, the organizers will email you to request the article title that you wish to present. Please respond within a week's time so that your talk can be properly advertised to Loke CTR members and journal club attendees.
Presentations are usually prepared using Powerpoint slides so that figures from the articles can be displayed for the audience. Prior to discussing the article details, you should provide sufficient background information so that those who are not experts can understand what is being discussed. How the article contributes to our understanding of placental or trophoblast biology and pregnancy at large should also be discussed. Your presentation should be about 20 minutes in length. Please expect that audience members might ask questions throughout your presentation.
Presenters should choose an article from the lab of the external Loke CTR Seminar speaker (see schedule here)
Meetings will take place in person and hybrid on teams. The Journal Club chair will monitor the hybrid attendees and relay their questions to the room.
For the full benefit of everyone involved, we strongly encourage presenters to attend the journal club meetings on a regular basis.
To encourage junior members to share their thoughts, we would really appreciate it if group leaders could hold their comments until we have had comments from junior members.
If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Rawlings tmr58@cam.ac.uk or Dafina Angelova da507@cam.ac.uk.
Who can join the discussion?
The Loke CTR Journal Club membership is open to anyone at the University of Cambridge or allied institutes who has an affinity for placental development and function, including:
- Undergraduates
- Graduate students
- Postdocs
- Technicians
- Clinicians
- Principal Investigators
Journal clubs are only open to current members of the University of Cambridge and its allied institutes. You do not need to be a member of the Loke CTR to attend or to present. We are always looking for new people to join us. For more information on Loke CTR membership and our mailing list policy, please visit our Membership page.
Articles previously presented at Journal Club
The CTR journal club has been running since 2010 and presenters have discussed many interesting articles. See below for some of the most recent articles presented at the journal club.
Loke CTR Journal Club Meeting Schedule (2024-2025)
| Date | Speaker | Title |
30th October, 2024 1PM-2PM | Yudan Ren | Dissecting Rubella Placental Infection in an In Vitro Trophoblast Model |
20th November 2024 1-2PM | Gretchen Ruschman | Microbiome-producing SCFAs are associated with preterm birth via trophoblast function modulation |
11th December, 2024 1-2PM | Freddy Wong | 3D reconstruction of a gastrulating human embryo |
15th January, 2025 4-5PM | Desislava Staneva | Lineage regulators TFAP2C and NR5A2 function as bipotency activators in totipotent embryos |
| 19th February, 2025 | Alice Truszczynska | NK cell receptor profiling of endometrial and decidual NK cells reveals pregnancy-induced adaptations |
| 19th March, 2025 | Chris Belton | Epigenetic dynamics of partially methylated domains in human placenta and trophoblast stem cells |
| 23rd April, 2025 | Stan MacMurray | |
| 14th May 2025 | Ana Paredes Garcia | |
| 18th June, 2025 | Narendra Meena |
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Rawlings tmr58@cam.ac.uk or Dafina Angelova da507@cam.ac.uk.