SYBIL EU-FP7 consortium members at the IGM embarked on a fun tour of Newcastle to raise awareness of rare disease research. The researchers from Prof Michael Briggs’s and Dr Kasia Pirog’s labs donned cartilage research themed T-shirts and went on a tour of the iconic monuments of Newcastle to chat to the public about the importance of rare disease research. This was complemented by a Twitter and social media campaign in order to reach a wider audience in Newcastle and in the UK.
We went round Newcastle today, to raise awareness of the International Rare Disease Day and the rare disease research.
Some of us were campaigning a bit further afield, in the highlands of Scotland:
We were also giving away the Rare Disease Day SYBIL pocket calendars. If you haven’t met us on the day, you can download yours here: business cards
Prof Michael Briggs’s and Dr Kasia Pirog’s labs are organising an fun afternoon at Gosforth Beaver Scouts this February. It will form a part of the Science Badge, and showcase the science done at the IGM as well as some other cool science tricks!
We have visited the West Gosforth Beaver Scouts tonight for some fun science activities towards their Science Badge. Much fun was had by the Beavers and the scientists alike!
On 20th November 2013 we are participating in the STEM event organised for the Gateshead A-Level science/maths students by Gateshead College. This event involves ~12 workshops prepared by scientists from Newcastle and Northumbria Universities as well as local businesses representing STEM-type careers, such as electrical engineering, software & games, sports science, etc. The IGM Public Engagement Committee will host a ‘Biomedical Science’ workshop of 45 minutes repeated 5 times during the day to different students (~8-10 per workshop).
Jon Ingledew (Muscle team), Stephen Lisgo (HDBR) and Kasia Pirog (Skeletal group) are organising short hands-on activities to showcase the IGM research and allow the students to ask questions about the career in science in an informal setting.
If you would be interested in taking part in such events, please drop us an email at: IGMengagement@ncl.ac.uk
British Science Festival is coming to Newcastle 7th-12th September 2013!
Europe’s largest and longest running science event organised by the British Science Association, the Festival will be hosted by Newcastle University, in association with Northumbria University and Newcastle City Council.
With a fun packed programme of over 200 events across the city, the festival offers something for everyone, from a school student to a research scientist, giving people an opportunity to meet with the UK’s top scientists, engineers and industry. Public engagement committee at the IGM together with the School of English at Newcastle University are involved in the British Science Festival as well. We are organising a Young Science Writers Competition, to get the young minds interested and excited about the amazing field of DNA and genetics. The winning entries will be displayed at the Institute for Genetic Medicine for the duration of the British Science Festival and can be found on our website here.
The IGM Public Engagement Committee, together with the Centre for Life and the NHS Fertility Clinic are hosting free site tours, offering a unique glimpse behind the scenes of the Centre for Life research labs and facilities as part of the British Science Festival 2013, on 7th and 8th of September 2013. The tours will include a chance to meet some of the people working at Life on the ground-breaking research.
The 
participants will have a chance to see behind the scenes of the famous Centre for Life, admire the view from the bridge link, take a peek inside one of our labs, see short presentations about the research done here at the IGM, visit the Newcastle Fertility Centre, and most importantly, meet the scientists!
Dr Carla Mellough from the stem cell group will talk about the exciting developments in heart and eye stem cell therapies, Dr Juliane Mueller will explain how zebrafish and mouse models can help in the research of muscular dystrophy, Harsh Sheth will talk about the exciting diagnostic technologies being developed by the Quantum Dx, Dr Simon Tual-Chalot and Esha Singh will talk about myocardial infarction and the novel therapies that are currently being developed at the IGM, Dr Steven Lisgo will display images generated by the MRC Wellcome Trust Human Developmental Biology Resource project (HDBR) and Dr Kasia Pirog will give an overview of the skeletal genetics research in the Institute. Jon Ingledew and Morten Ritso (Muscle Team) are coordinating the day and organising the display in the foyer.
On 5th December 2012 we are hosting an open day for A-level students from the schools around the North East. We invited 80 A-level students from 8 schools to have a look around the labs, learn a few techniques, hear exciting talks about the current research at the IGM and participate in the ethical debate about animal use in science. We are also running a workshop on University applications and an informal session with undergraduate representatives, to give the students a bit of a flavour of what life at Newcastle university may be like and what it has to offer.
We got a mention in the React magazine where you can read more about this event: http://reactmagazine.co.uk/anybody-out-there/public-engagement-school-kids-and-science/ and we will be organising more events of this kind in the future.We would like to thank all the people who volunteered to help with this event.