This theme will focus on infectious diseases, also known as contagious diseases/transmissible diseases/communicable diseases. Such diseases comprise clinically evident illness (that is, characteristic medical signs and/or symptoms of disease) resulting from the infection, presence, and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism.

Infectious pathogens include some viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions. Disease investigations that include aetiology, transmission, prevention, epidemiology, immunity, diagnosis (microbial culture; microscopy; biochemical tests; molecular diagnostics) and treatment will fall under this theme.

Researchers who have assessed the determinants, development or treatment of non-communicable disease are welcome to submit papers to this theme. Research in this theme includes how non-communicable diseases such as (but not limited to) cardiovascular, cancer, chronic respiratory, diabetes, and mental health conditions impacts on patient’s quality of life, and what innovative approaches have been implemented to achieve better health outcomes.

This theme will demonstrate how innovative approaches have been used to translate research into practice with the aim of improving health outcomes.

Research in the following areas would fall within this theme:

• The education and training of health professionals.
• The development and implementation of health policies.
• The organisation, management, and evaluation of health services.
• Issues at the health systems level including health financing, human resources for health, health information systems, medical supply systems, governance, and accountability.

The molecular and comparative biosciences theme is aimed at researchers working in many of the pure biological sciences.

Molecular biology deals with the molecular basis of the processes of replication, transcription, translation, and cell function. Investigations which aim to understand the interactions between the various cellular systems also fall within this theme. This is inclusive of molecular genetics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and computational biology.

Comparative biology on the other hand encompasses many of the biological sciences including, but not restricted to, evolutionary biology, anatomy, physiology, systematics, palaeontology, biological anthropology, developmental biology, and genomics.

The focus of this theme is clinical medicine, not as a specialty but to do with patients in the clinical setting. It will include any research conducted within a clinical setting or that has a clinical application. This could include audits of patients, clinical trials, evaluation of outcomes or survival data, innovative management of large groups of patients, home programmes, or the use of IT in managing patients.

This theme will include therapeutic intervention research – pharmaceutical, nursing, physical (such as exercise or physiotherapy) and educational (such as occupational therapy).

Registrars within the clinical disciplines are strongly encouraged to submit their MMED projects for presentation under this theme.