Conference presentations
European Society for Human Genetics Conference, Virtual, May 2020.
American Society of Human Genetics, San Diego, California, October 2018. Oral presentation.
International Cardiovascular Genetics Conference in Cardiff, October 2017. Oral presentation.
Invited speaker at Electrophysiology day 4: cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death from bench to bedside meeting organised by the Cardiology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine July 2017.
European Society for Human Genetics Conference, Copenhagen, May 2017. Oral presentation.
Oral presentation at International Congress of Human Genetics 2016, Kyoto.
‘Genomics and Sudden Death’ invited speaker at Electrophysiology day 4: cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death from bench to bedside meeting organised by the Cardiology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine May 2015.
Oral presentation at European Society of Human Genetics Conference 2015, Glasgow.
Invited speaker at the 10th Workshop on Cardiomyopathy and Contractility, Imperial College, November 2015.
Invited speaker at the London Myology Forum, Royal Veterinary College, July 2015.
Public talks and events
September 2021, MDUK LGMD Muscles Matter Seminar Series
Yalda took part in this years Limb Girdle Muscles Matter Seminar run by Muscular Dystrophy UK. The Seminar series is targeted at patients, families and anyone interested in the condition. There is some more info and a link to the seminar in the News section.
September 2020, MDUK LGMD Muscles Matter Seminar Series
Yalda was invited to take part in the first online Limb Girdle Muscles Matter Seminar run by Muscular Dystrophy UK. The seminar took place on the National LGMD Awareness Day and included speakers from healthcare, research and patient backgrounds.
February 2020, Henrietta Barnett Biochemical Society
This year Yalda spoke about rare diseases and how advances in genetic technologies are allowing us to diagnose patients. It was lovely to hear from some of the students after the talk and answer some of their questions on the topics discussed.
January 2019, Careers Fair
Always great to be at the Henrietta Barnett School in London - and this was another trip to speak to their students considering future career options.
August 2018 STEM Careers Speed Networking Event organised by in2science. As part of this event Yalda met with students who had carried out in2science organised summer project placements, to answer any questions they had about a future science-related career. You can read more about it in the blog.
March 2018, Women In Stem Event/International Womens Day
Yalda spent the afternoon at the Arts and Media School in Islington as part of an event organised to inspire young women to take up STEM subjects. You can read more about it in the blog here......
January 2018, Careers Fair
Yalda had a great time speaking to students of the Henrietta Barnett School in London, as part of their annual careers fair. You can find out more by clicking here......
March 2017, The Henrietta Barnett School, London
Yalda was invited to give a talk to the 6th Form BioChem Society on identifying the genes responsible for inherited heart conditions. One of the Year 12 students described the talk in the school's weekly newsletter:
"In March 2017 the BioChem Society welcomed Dr Yalda Jamshidi to speak. She is now a geneticist who focuses on cardiovascular disease, and is part of a research team funded by the British Heart Foundation. She presented a fascinating talk on identifying the genes responsible for inherited heart conditions. We learnt about the various ways of monitoring the heart, and how a simple ECG or MRI can unveil a condition as serious as cardiomyopathy and the significant role this scanning process has played in mapping such genetic conditions in families. She described the use of zebrafish as effective research models for investigating cardiovascular diseases in humans, due to their high genetic similarity to us and transparent embryos, meaning that non-invasive imaging techniques can be used to view the impact of genetic manipulation. Dr Jamshidi's talk was extremely informative and the huge turnout was reflective of how interesting it was! The talk was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone in attendance.”
MEDIA
June 2019 The Endocrinologist is the quarterly magazine from the Society of Endocrinology and this Summer’s issue provided a valuable update of the fast-moving field of genetics. The issue also includes my round up of the latest developments in gene therapy.
May 2019 It was a pleasure to speak to Amisha who is the presenter of MelaninMemos - a podcast celebrating work done by Women of Colour. Lots of great questions including why I got into #genetics and what I think about the latest big #genome #sequencing projects. 😁 check it out on mixcloud.com/MelaninMemos Episode 3 (link below, and you can hear me from 27’-).
Jan 2019 more on the Gene-Edited Babies (see below for my respone to the initial news) as reports came out from the Chinese authorities following an investigation into the work…..
GENE EDITED BABIES
November 2018: My interviews/commentary on LoveSportRadio and Sputnik International
BBC RADIO 4 BIOHACKING SERIES
Biohacking
BBC Radio 4 recently presented a series on Biohacking which very nicely covered CRISPR, its use, problems, ethics and future directions. You can hear Yalda in the fourth episode in the series (available on BBC iPlayer - click the image on the left), talking about mosaicism.
Christmas Science Experiment
Yalda was excited to take part in an important Christmas science experiment carried out by The Times, to find out if there is an ideal drinking level for dancing? To read more about the reasoning behind the experiment and to find out the conclusion you can check out the article here. If you're curious you can watch a short clip of her dancing efforts above alongside The Times Science Editor Tom Whipple ;-)
NAKED GENETICS PODCAST
Media Highlights and Science Commentary
claims of first genome edited babies
27th November 2018: My comment on this story: “Gene editing tools are fantastic for research but we are still not able to control them well enough to ensure they are safe and efficient for use in humans. The scientists who carried out these studies chose to focus on a gene associated with risk of HIV, however we already have ways to prevent HIV infection and available treatments should it occur. We also do not need gene editing to ensure it isn’t passed on to offspring. We know very little about the long term effects, and most people would agree that experimentation on humans for an avoidable condition just to improve our knowledge is morally and ethically unacceptable. Whether the results stand up to scrutiny or not we need as a society to think hard and fast about when and where we are willing to take the risks that come with any new therapeutic treatment, particularly ones that could affect future generations.”
and here’s some of the coverage:
BBC News: China baby gene editing claim 'dubious' Dr Yalda Jamshidi, an expert in human genetics at St George's, University of London, said: "We know very little about the long term effects, and most people would agree that experimentation on humans for an avoidable condition just to improve our knowledge is morally and ethically unacceptable.
"Whether the results stand up to scrutiny or not we need as a society to think hard and fast about when and where we are willing to take the risks that come with any new therapeutic treatment, particularly ones that could affect future generations."
Independent: World's first genetically altered babies born in China, scientist claims Dr Yalda Jamshidi, a human genetics expert at St George’s, University of London, added: “Whether the results stand up to scrutiny or not we need as a society to think hard and fast about when and where we are willing to take the risks that come with any new therapeutic treatment, particularly ones that could affect future generations.”
Human embryos edited to stop disease
BBC News-2 Aug 2017
Dr Yalda Jamshidi, a reader in genomic medicine at St George's University of London, said: "The study is the first to show successful and efficient correction of a disease-causing mutation in early stage human embryos with gene editing. "Whilst we are just beginning to understand the complexity of genetic ...
Major Genetic breakthrough could curb thousands of hereditary ...
iNews-2 Aug 2017
Scientists mend genetic defect in human embryo for first time
Financial Times-2 Aug 2017
Human embryo editing breakthrough is a 'major advance' towards ...
In-Depth-The Independent-2 Aug 2017
From fantasy to possibility
The Statesman-8 Aug 2017
“Families with genetic diseases have a strong drive to find cures,” said Yalda Jamshidi, reader in genomic medicine at St George's, University of London. “Whilst we are just beginning to understand the complexity of genetic disease, gene-editing will likely become acceptable when its potential benefits, ...
Genetic study identifies a new form of congenital muscular dystrophy
Science Daily-9 Feb 2017
The discovery will allow a precise genetic diagnosis for a greater number of children affected by this condition, and help inform better clinical management. The study, led by Dr Yalda Jamshidi from St George's, University of London and Dr Chiara Manzini from George Washington University, examined the ...
Genetic study identifies new form of congenital muscular dystrophy
Drug Target Review-13 Feb 2017
This discovery will allow a precise genetic diagnosis for a greater number of children affected by this condition, and help inform better clinical management. The study, led by Dr Yalda Jamshidi from St George's, University of London and Dr Chiara Manzini from George Washington University, examined the ...
Blood Test to Diagnose Inherited Heart Conditions
Medscape-22 Feb 2016
A new genetic test has been developed to help diagnose people with inherited heart conditions, the British Heart Foundation has announced. Research funded by the charity looked at a particular group of genes that could be reliably checked for all known heart condition genes using one simple test.
Study identifies new genes related to heart function
UPI.com-3 Oct 2016
Jamshidi went on to add the next step in his research is identifying the specific roles the genes play. Researchers have continued testing the relationship between genetics and heart development using fruit flies. By switching certain genes on and off, scientists examine which genes are responsible for ...
Row over human embryo gene editing
BBC News-24 Apr 2015
Dr Yalda Jamshidi, at St George's University Hospital, said: "In theory, replacing the defective gene with a healthy one would be the ideal solution. "Researchers have been working on developing techniques to accomplish this for many years. "However, altering genes in human embryos can have ...
World's first genetic modification of human embryos reported ...
In-Depth-Science Daily-24 Apr 2015
Parents who refused to let baby die of leukaemia change medical ...
Telegraph.co.uk-5 Nov 2015
Dr Yalda Jamshidi, Senior Lecturer in Human Genetics, St George's University Hospital Foundation Trust, added : “Gene editing is an exciting scientific advance with potential to treat many human genetic diseases. “Importantly, unlike recent controversial reports of gene editing in human embryos with ...
Everything You Need To Know About Amazing Cancer-Killing "Gene ...
Popular Mechanics-6 Nov 2015