University of Sheffield to host annual medical festival online due to the coronavirus

The University of Sheffield are to move their free medical research festival online for the first time due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The Festival of Medical Research will be held virtually by medical scientists and researchers, using online activities to educate people about the importance of healthy living and how research can help to sustain our well-being.

Exhibits and activities on the relationship between medical research and how it supports healthy living will be available through the university’s website from May 29 to June 5.

University of Sheffield’s Soft Matter and Polymers lecturer Dr Alice Pyne will present a video series exploring the structure of DNA in the hope the virtual celebration will inspire the next generation of medical researchers.

“For me, one of the best parts of doing research is communicating that to people beyond the confines of our lab,” she said.

“The MRC Festival is an amazing opportunity for our research to reach a really broad spectrum of people, and hopefully inspire other budding researchers to get excited about DNA.”

The festival, hosted by Sheffield Culture Hub, is a collaboration between the University of Sheffield, Sheffield City Council and Our Favourite Places.

The digital platform was launched to host arts and cultural events online, as well as other activities from around the city, to support the creative sectors during the coronavirus lockdown.

Teams from departments across the university will present projects on how vaccinations keep us healthy, alcohol consumption in England and how DNA can repair itself.

PhD student Ana Amariutei, who is researching the use of gene-based therapy in restoring hearing, will lead an activity on ears.

She said: “This is the second time the Hearing Research Group from Sheffield has participated in the MRC Festival of Medical Research.

“This year, the group of supervisors, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students have developed a set of online activities for both kids and adults.

“We hope people will enjoy learning about their ears and that they will find their mechanism of function as inspiring as we do.”