EventPartnership NIHR Imperial Research Open Day 2019

Published on 21st January 2020 in Patients & Public
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Over 200 people visited the NIHR Imperial Research Open Day on Friday 15th November 2019 to discover innovative research taking place at Imperial.

Researchers, nurses, staff and colleagues from Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust took over the W12 Conference Centre at Hammersmith Hospital to host interactive exhibitions displaying the variety of research in areas including cancer, cardiovascular disease, metabolic medicine and endocrinology, infection, brain sciences, and genetics.

All NIHR-supported infrastructure were showcasing work including the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), NIHR Imperial Clinical Research Facility (CRF), NIHR Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre (PSTRC), NIHR London In Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative (IVD), Imperial Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC), NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative (HIC), and the NIHR Clinical Research Network North West London (CRN). Additional support teams exhibiting included Clinical Academic Training Office (CATO), Patient Experience Research Centre (PERC), Imperial Health Charity, and Imperial College Medical Libraries.

Attendees included patients, carers, researchers, healthcare professionals, local college students, and members of the public. Activities available to participate in ranged from:

  • Trying an eye-tracking device to interact with a simulated robot for surgery;
  • Testing salt taste thresholds by spraying saline of differing concentrations onto tongues;
  • Using Lego to illustrate sepsis alerting, impact on treatment, and patient movement around the hospital;
  • Interactive quiz to explore the causes of infertility, the hypothalamus, pituitary and gonadal glands, and current treatments;
  • Health screening assessments including body composition and grip strength;
  • Trying out applications for real-time continuous glucose monitoring.

      

The PERC team hosted a People’s Research Café with members of the BRC Public Advisory Panel. The Café format is a methodology designed in partnership with members from across Imperial’s Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Groups and at the Open Day it was used to enable input from the public into six current projects:

  • Integrating alcohol services in GP practices;
  • New bowel cancer ‘rule-out’ home test;
  • Health and climate change;
  • Using routinely collected data to investigate how the environment affects our health;
  • Genetic data to understand reactions to medicines;
  • Supporting patient decision making about admission to intensive care.

The NIHR Imperial BRC launched its new brochure at the event, which can be accessed here.

All pictures from the day can be viewed here or via the Imperial College Asset Library.