Secondary school students and their teachers were kept on the edge of their seats with a fun an interactive session at the John Radcliffe Hospital on Thursday 17th March.
Researchers, scientists, nurses and engineers were on hand with props to try and get the students from schools across Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to guess their professions as part of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centres’ annual public open day on research.
Students were then treated to a first look at the more than 20 interactive exhibits, created by university and NHS researchers, in the West Wing and Children’s Hospital atrium. External exhibitors included the MS Society, Oxford Brookes University, University of Oxford, the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Thames Valley CLRN. Researchers demonstrated machines that can zap cancer cells with pin prick precision, they talked about new vaccines that are being developed in Oxford, and the latest cancer treatments as well as asking people to guess how much sugar there is in everyday foods.
More than 250 staff, visitors, patients and members of the public filled the atrium on Thursday. The event brought to life the wide range of research, for patient benefit, that is happening in Oxford with the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals and in partnership with the University of Oxford.
In the evening visitors were able to hear from experts about how technology impacts their work and what benefits there are for patients. Professor Paul Johnson talked about Islet transplantation for uncontrollable Type 1 Diabetes, Professor Robert MacLaren talked about his work on the bionic eye trial, Mr Tom Leslie outlined his research into high intensity focused ultrasound in the treatment of cancer and Dr Stephane Larre covered the incredible precision of robotic surgery.