Public engagement is an important part of our research at i-sense, in order to disseminate our findings with a wide, diverse and inclusive audience and also to develop our network and engage future researchers into the field. Let’s take a closer look at some of the varied areas of public engagement that we have been involved in over the past few months.
In July, i-sense joined with Stemettes, an award-winning social enterprise that has worked with more than 55,000 young people across the UK and Europe in 9 years. Stemettes works with girls, young women and nonbinary people aged 5 to 25 years old and supports them to make informed decisions on pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) related careers. Alyssa, i-sense PhD student in the McKendry group, volunteered as a role model and networking panel member on the day. The event saw over 50 young girls attend and it was a fantastic opportunity to spread awareness about i-sense research to a younger age group, inspiring young girls to consider a career in infectious disease research.
The Great Exhibition Roadshow is a weekend of free events for all ages celebrating the inspirational power of awe and wonder in science and the arts. This year, the roadshow had an estimated 38,000 attendees. The Stevens Group at i-sense led a fun, interactive stand on lateral flow tests. Christy, i-sense PhD student who led the project said, “It was great to have a platform to interact with members of the public and fuel their excitement for science. Our simple Velcro ball game helped to explain how lateral flow tests really work, and it was rewarding to equip visitors with knowledge about how lateral flow tests can be used to diagnose a range of diseases”.
The Stevens Group also developed a YouTube animation entitled “How Does a Lateral Flow work?”. The animation demonstrates how through the binding of antigens to antibodies on the test membrane, nanoparticles give a clear lateral flow test result in less than 30 minutes. The animation was widely circulated and in only a couple of months has reached almost 2,000 views on YouTube. Dr Leah Frenette is a Postdoctoral Research Associate who led on the project. She commented, “Though it felt different to a typical engagement activity, it was exciting to see the number of views climb and to know we were reaching more people than we could feasibly do face to face. It will be a great tool to be able to use in the future”. Following this project’s success, we look to develop further visual animations, graphics and videos to disseminate our research in the future.
This Summer, i-sense also received hugely positive feedback from students participating in the UCL Quantum (UCLQ) Tech Summer School - an opportunity that provides undergraduates from across the world a comprehensive introduction to the exciting field of quantum technologies. Our McKendry lab team provided demonstrations, focusing on our nanodiamond research led by Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dr Ben Miller. One student said, "I'd never been exposed to this type of lab equipment before - it was so exciting and now I can't wait to read more about it!"
Our nanodiamond research is also being disseminated in other exciting ways to public audiences. In fact, this week, a team from the McKendry group look forward to attending New Scientist Live as part of the Quantum City stand. On 7th October, the i-sense team will be showcasing the fascinating quantum capabilities of nanodiamonds for highly sensitive viral detection.
We also recently welcomed Selina Hurley, curator for medicine at the Science Museum, to our i-sense McKendry lab. Alyssa, PhD student in the McKendry group, demonstrated our ‘lab in a suitcase’ and members of the McKendry team discussed exciting ways in which we could collaborate. We look forward to working with the Science Museum to create engaging exhibits showcasing i-sense research for the public.
i-sense members frequently provide presentations at conferences in the UK and internationally. Notably, Professor Rachel McKendry (i-sense Director) has provided a number of recent external high-profile talks open to the public. She recently presented on Digital Diagnostics as part of the “Medicine in a Virtual Age” Nature conference, which was free and open to all. Professor McKendry will also be providing talks at the Lancet Summit: Big Data and AI in Pandemic Preparedness in October 2022 and the Sensors in Medicine 2022 conference in November 2022.
Finally, the i-sense team has been collaborating with its wide network of industry partners, governmental bodies, charities and wide-ranging academic groups across the UK and internationally, in order to develop grant proposals for various large (£3M+) grants ranging with varied research topics including antimicrobial resistance and wastewater viral surveillance (following on from earlier projects in the year). The team looks forward to leveraging its existing wide network to support in these wide-ranging and important opportunities.
You can find updates about any of our upcoming public engagement activities on our Twitter page!
