This half term, we welcomed 55 students to our new I Heart Research Academy.
The Academy is funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and King’s Health Partners. It is a development of our Summer School format, with two parts. In part one, students attended two days of talks and seminars, before starting on part two – their group projects, to be presented at a conference in April.
In a packed first day, the students heard from Abi Gartner doctoral research student at the Centre for the Developing Brain. Abi talked about his research on MRI and how scans are used to see how babies’ brains develop in the womb. He showed the students the amazing 3D brain website and some films of MRI scans showing babies in the womb.
The next three sessions were from groups of Imaging MSc students. They covered CT scans, what machine learning is and how it might aid clinicians in understanding more about disease and the best way to treat patients. They did a short coding exercise to have a go at writing a programme. A team of the MSc students are also supporting on evaluating the Academy, while another is working on a social media project with the students.
Victoria Tsang then took the students through the different types of stem cells, and how she works with them to help treat diseases. She also quized the students on what they had learned about how stem cells work.
Finally, Clare Saunders, Mary Abkir and Sophie Pinnell from Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals took the students through their roles as research physiologists and how they contribute to research studies.
The second day of the Academy kicked off with a session on research ethics with Paz Garcia and Aaruthy Suthahar from Twins UK. They looked at what researchers need to consider to get approval for their studies and tried a few test cases to see how they would judge applications.
Character cards for the science role playing game Professors and Pandemics
The students then met our patient and public involvement manager Jacintha McGahon and three members of our research advisory group; Rashmi Kumar, Tony Darroch and Clive Moore. They talked about their own experience and how patients and the public can impact research.
The students then had a go at navigating a research challenge with the role play game Professors and Pandemics, created by Dr Rhia Kundu from King’s College London.
They then had a session on electron microscopy and AI with Dr Andreia Pinto from Royal Brompton and Harefield, with a quiz on parts of the cell, and how to identify them from black and white microscope images.
The first part of the academy rounded off with a session on presentation skills and a chance to meet the mentors who will guide the students through part two of the Academy – the group projects.
We want to say a huge thanks to all our speakers, mentors and contributors to the Academy, and well done to the students who were so engaged with the sessions.
The next Academy will be hosted over the summer holidays, so do keep an eye out for when applications open, and to hear more from our first cohort of students.
