In addition to interacting with fellow researchers at national and international conferences, seminars and other academic community events, the Lavery lab is also committed to engaging the public with that research that we do. We are motivated to build public trust in and advocacy for scientific research in our field, through opening up conversations with people who have different perspectives, levels of understanding and backgrounds. We also consider it important to show that scientific careers are both varied and valuable, whilst simultaneously giving our team members opportunity to develop important science communication skills through face to face interactions with different public groups.

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Team members have taken part in numerous events over the years, ranging from hosting small labs tours at the medical school to giving public talks on and off campus. We’ve also developed some simple hands-on models and demos to explain some of the fundamental aspects of our research. We use these when we visit community festivals or during university open days, where we have found them to be effective tools for initiating conversations on healthy ageing between researchers and members of the public. Most recently the Lavery lab collaborated with the Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum to be part of a special late night event which saw over 350 attendees visit the museum ‘after hours’ to engage with scientists in an approachable and friendly environment. Importantly, this event was free, giving young and old people who might not otherwise engage with science an opportunity to do so as part of an evening mixing science and art.

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If you are interested in having our lab take part in a public engagement event you are running, get in touch with the IMSR public engagement manager, Caroline, who can liaise with our group on our availability: c.d.t.gillett@bham.ac.uk

Photo credits on this page: Darren Gair