Irene Manton Winners 2026
The Irene Manton Poster Prize is open to students and early career scientists and takes place at the SEB Annual Conference. A prize of £100 is awarded to the best poster in each section (Animal, Cell, Plant and OED). The winners this year were announced during the SEB Annual Conference in Florence .
Irene Manton 2026 - Cell
Cell Section :
Winner: Diana Ismail
Diana Ismail is currently a senior PhD candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the Lebanese University (LU) and her Master of Science in Pharmacology and Toxicology from AUB.
During her master's studies, Diana investigated the role of dietary phosphate in cardiovascular diseases, with a particular focus on hypertension and vascular function using murine models. She is currently pursuing her PhD, where her research explores therapeutic strategies for cancer, with an emphasis on metal homeostasis, redox biology, and naturally derived bioactive compounds.
Throughout her doctoral training, Diana has gained extensive experience in mammalian cell culture, molecular and cellular biology, flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, biochemical assays, and preclinical cancer models. Her research integrates in vitro and in vivo approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms of cancer progression and to evaluate the therapeutic potential of phytochemical-based anticancer strategies.
Her research interests include cancer biology, redox biology, metal homeostasis, phytochemical therapeutics, and translational cancer research.
Irene Manton 2026 - Plant Section
Plant Section
Winner : Boonyuen, Pannaree
Pannaree Boonyuen is a second-year PhD researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London, funded by the London Interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme and supervised by Professor Alessandra Devoto. Her research investigates stress-induced epigenetic changes that can be transmitted across generations, contributing to our understanding of intergenerational epigenetic stress memory in plants. Using the plant stress hormone jasmonic acid as a priming stimulus, she studies how DNA methylation and histone acetylation regulate gene expression and influence plant resilience to abiotic stress. Pannaree has a strong interest in systems biology and omics data analysis, developing reproducible bioinformatics pipelines, and sharing robust wet-lab protocols. She is also passionate about translating plant science into agricultural innovation, having spent a year at a Japan–Thailand agri-tech start-up before beginning her PhD.