Category Archives: Events

Black Box is coming back!

12 January, 2022Events, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

Our Black Box cinema project will be visiting the Summerhall Exhibition as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival in April this year!

Opening the door on the inner workings of scientific research, BLACK BOX is a curatorial pop-up cinema project, founded by artist, Louise Mackenzie and scientist, Kasia Pirog. Curating film inspired by and expanding upon scientific themes, BLACK BOX showcases works by artists and researchers involved in a creative and critical engagement with science. For Edinburgh Science Festival 2022, BLACK BOX presents KINSHIP – a programme of short films that reflect upon the many evolving relationships that begin with the body. Who or what connects us, who is host and who is guest?

BLACK BOX is supported by the Cultural Negotiation of Science, Northumbria University and the Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University.

We are very excited, please watch this space for more details. Meanwhile, if you’d like to know more about the Black Box project, please click here: https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/blackbox/

Meet our scientists at Life

19 August, 2021Events, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

If you head to the Experiment Zone (https://www.life.org.uk/events/experiment-zone) at Life, you will be able to spot some of our scientists explaining how they use DNA extraction in their work. Next time you visit, look for the panels with these friendly faces!

Please contact us if you’d like to know more, we love talking about science!

Soapbox Science 28th August 2021 – request for volunteers

12 July, 2021Events, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

Soapbox Science is coming to Newcastle again!

From the organisers: “Soapbox Science is a novel public outreach platform for promoting women and non-binary scientists and the science they do. Our events transform public areas into an arena for public learning and scientific debate; they follow the format of London Hyde Park’s Speaker’s Corner, which is historically an arena for public debate. With Soapbox Science, we want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy, learn from, heckle, question, probe, interact with and be inspired by some of our leading scientists. No middle man, no PowerPoint slide, no amphitheatre – just remarkable women and non-binary scientists who are there to amaze you with their latest discoveries, and to answer the science questions you have been burning to ask. Look out for bat simulators, interactive experiments or giant pictures of volcanoes. Or simply hear them talk about what fascinates them, and why they think they have the most fantastic job in the world!”

If you would like to participate in the event this year, either as a presenter or a volunteer helping out behind the scenes, please click here to register your interest.

Today we had the first meeting of our new Working Group

24 February, 2021Events, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

We had a very enjoyable first meeting. Thank you very much to everyone for volunteering their time to work with us, it was great to meet you and we are looking forward to working with you over the next 3 years, developing outreach and educational materials and sharing our research journey.

If you are interested in participating but couldn’t attend today, the recording of the meeting is available to watch and you are more than welcome to joi us at our next session in June. If you’d like to watch the video or join the Working Group, please email katarzyna.pirog@ncl.ac.uk

Thank you.

An opportunity to join our new Working Group

14 December, 2020Events, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

We are looking for members of the public who would like to be involved in a Working Group, and take part in lab meetings, provide a fresh perspective on the work performed in the laboratory, have an active voice in the decisions we take as to the direction of our research and help us deliver their teaching and public engagement activities related to musculoskeletal health and ageing that stem from our work.

For more details, please click here or email katarzyna.pirog@ncl.ac.uk

Thank you.

Thank you all for a brilliant Rare Disease Day!

29 February, 2020Events, Genetics Matters, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

A big thank you to all the presenters and attendees for making Genetics Matters a great event this year!

We’re getting excited about Genetics Matters this weekend

26 February, 2020Events, Genetics Matters, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

Our guest list is growing and we now have an exciting programme to share with you:

We can’t wait!

Celebrating rare disease research, the strength and courage of the rare disease community and patient involvement in science, and talking about genetic research in Newcastle and the importance of raising awareness of rare diseases and the patient journey, it is promising to be a great event.

If you haven’t booked your free place yet, please do so using the links below:

See you on Satuday!

12 days to Genetics Matters!

17 February, 2020Events, Genetics Matters, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

T-12 to Genetics Matters, our annual event where you can find out about rare disease and genetic research in Newcastle, show your support for rare disease patients, perform simple fun experiments and chat to Newcastle scientists over tea and cake.

To book your free place, please click here.

Genetics Matters is back!

13 December, 2019Events, Genetics Matters, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

Save the date, our popular event is back on the 29th of February for one fun afternoon filled with science and cake.

This year we are meeting at the wonderful Great Hall at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle and will be talking about cancer gene therapy, male infertility, the 100,000 genomes project, mitochondrial donations, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, drug repurposing and many more hot medical research topics which may have caught your eye in the news. The event is FREE but please book to secure a place by clicking here: https://forms.ncl.ac.uk/view.php?id=6972326

Please spread the news amongst your friends and colleagues, the more the merrier!

Save the date – Genetics Matters 29th of February 2020

1 November, 2019Events, Genetics Matters, Musculoskeletal newsKatarzyna

Our popular Genetics Matters event is back!

Save the date and come see us on Saturday the 29th of February for a fun afternoon filled with science and cake, as part of the International Rare Disease Day. Please email katarzyna.pirog@ncl.ac.uk if you’d like to take part and present and please spread the news amongst your friends and colleagues, the more the merrier!

From the International Rare Disease Day website:

“When the challenge of raising awareness for people affected by a rare disease still looms. On Rare Disease Day we must re-double our efforts. Re-think, re-envision, reimagine. Reframe what it means to be ‘rare’. In fact – rare isn’t scarce, rare isn’t infrequent, rare isn’t remote. Rare is not as rare as you think. The statistics speak for themselves. There are more than 300 million patients, each supported by family, friends and a team of carers, that make up the rare disease community worldwide. Over 6,000 different diseases. Collectively, they make up the third largest country in the world. Rare is many. Rare is strong. Rare is proud. The likely truth is that you know one of the 1 in 20 people affected by a rare disease. We need society to understand that millions of people living with a rare disease around the world face inequitable access to diagnosis, treatment and care. It’s time to take action for people living with a rare disease to have equal opportunities to realise their potential. [..] We need everyone to get involved and join the movement to reframe rare!”

Musculoskeletal Genetics

Pirog lab @ Newcastle University