Systems in the Community
14 July 2016
First year PhD students at the Systems Immunity URI host patient engagement focus day.
The day provided an opportunity for patients and members of the public to meet leading cancer researchers, and learn about the cutting-edge research conducted at Cardiff.
There was also an opportunity for patients to meet representatives from Cancer Research Wales, Cancer Research UK and Tenovus. The day involved a variety of talks from researchers, medical professionals and fundraisers, giving an interesting insight from each perspective. Informal discussions over lunch and refreshments and a series of laboratory tours helped put the day-to-day research in context.
The day was met with exceptional feedback, and attendees overwhelmingly found that the day “increased public involvement in science” and agreed that it was “good to see links between lab and patients”. The event was described as “well-organized with enthusiastic speakers” with “a variety of engaging talks, demos and stalls and a great turnout”. Many members of the public also showed a keen interest in attending a similar event, and urged that the event should “be repeated to raise further awareness”.
"My role within the charity is non-scientific, so I fully appreciated the speakers’ efforts to translate their work into something relatable that conveyed the importance of the topic. My team and I had a brilliant time and were intrigued by the variety of subjects presented to us. Emma and her colleagues put on an interesting and informative event which left everyone in attendance more comfortable with discussing the science of cancer and immunotherapy."
"It was a fantastic day, very well organised with a diversity of presentations, that included interesting science and heart-rendering supporter testimonials. Many thanks to PhD students Emma, James, Alex and Ariadni who worked tirelessly to make the event happen, where we met many new friends. They are a great credit to their department and Cardiff University, and I very much hope this becomes an annual event."