This years RI Christmas Lectures are on human health in space!

More information here.

The 2015 CHRISTMAS LECTURES How to survive in space

We are excited to announce that this year’s Christmas Lecturer is Dr Kevin Fong, an emergency doctor and expert in space medicine, who will present the three part CHRISTMAS LECTURES series 'How to survive in space' on BBC Four this festive season. In celebration of British astronaut Tim Peake's upcoming mission to the International Space Station (ISS), this year's Lectures will shine a spotlight on international achievements in space science and engineering. Kevin and the ISS astronauts will open a window onto today’s most exciting space missions, explore the future of space travel and offer a unique insight into the challenges of protecting human life in the hostile environment of space.

Galaxy Community Conference 2015 - Norwich (4-8 July)

The 2015 Galaxy Community Conference (GCC2015, http://gcc2015.tsl.ac.uk/)
is being held at the Sainsbury Lab in Norwich, United Kingdom, 4-8 July.
GCC2015 is an opportunity to meet with 200+ others working at the forefront
data-intensive biomedical research. The 2015 edition of GCC includes more
than ever before (http://gcc2015.tsl.ac.uk/programme/):
 
- Coding and Data Wrangling Hackathons (and a colocated BioJS Hackathon
too)
- Two days of training offering 18 sessions on 15 topics in up to 5
parallel tracks, covering topics ranging from analysis to administration to
tool development.
- A two day meeting featuring accepted talks, poster presentations,
keynote talks, vendor exhibits, lightning talks, birds-of-a-feather
meetups, and plenty of networking.
 
Early registration is now open (but closes Friday, 22 May, *which is this
Friday)*. Registering early saves you 40%. Registering now ensures you'll
get a spot in the hackathon and training sessions of your choice.
 
Galaxy is a data integration and analysis platform for the life sciences.
It is an open source project and is available for free on the web, for
local, and installs, and on cloud infrastructures. It is deployed around
the world, and used for research across the tree of life. See
http://galaxyproject.org/ for more.
 
Finally, there are also many other events going on before and after
GCC2015, and GCC itself ends right before ISMB / ECCB starts in Dublin.
See https://wiki.galaxyproject.org/News/NearGCC2015 for a complete list.
 
Hope to see you in Norwich!
 
Dave Clements, on behalf of the GCC2015 Organising Committee
 

European Antibiotic Awareness Day Competition 2013

Have you got an innovative approach to teaching? Would you like to share this with others?

If so, then why not take part in the e-Bug competition to support European Antibiotic Awareness Day?

To enter, send us a video recording, YouTube link or written lesson plan with photos of how you inform your students about antibiotics, to e-bug@phe.gov.uk>.

There are great prizes on offer for the winning teacher and for their school, so get your thinking caps on as the deadline for entries is July 26th.

Visit  http://www.e-bug.eu/games_home.aspx?cc=eng&ss=1&t=e-Bug%20Games for more information.

Claire

Claire Joyner

e-bug Project Assistant

Public Health England | Primary Care Unit | Microbiology Department | Gloucester Royal Hospital | Great Western Road | Gloucester | GL1 3NN

e-mail:  claire.joyner@phe.gov.uk

Tel:         0300 422 5067

www.gov.uk/phe>   Follow us on Twitter@PHE_uk

Cool Food Planet resource by @EUFIC

Educational resource on health, nutrition & food safety created by European Food Information Council:

 

About Cool Food Planet

Cool Food Planet is an educational website where children, aged 6-12 years, can learn about health, nutrition and food safety. Educating children about nutrition is one of the most important steps towards good health and helping them to grow to their potential.
Cool Food Planet is designed for children to use independently. However, information is also provided for parents and teachers to help them support children’s learning in the classroom and at home.
Cool Food Planet does not feature any food or drink brands on the website.

About EUFIC

Cool Food Planet is a product of the European Food Information Council (EUFIC). EUFIC is a non-profit organisation which provides science-based information on food safety and quality and health and nutrition in a way that promotes consumer understanding.
EUFIC extensively researched children’s perception of nutrition and their internet usage to inform the website design and to ensure it delivers children’s educational needs in a fun and engaging way. All the content is developed in partnership with science, nutrition and teaching professionals to ensure it is reliable and relevant.

EUFICs priorities:

• Enhance public understanding of nutritional quality and food safety.
• Raise consumers’ awareness of the active role they play in safe food handling and choosing a well-balanced and healthy diet.
• Educate, engage and empower parents to take responsibility for their own and their kids’ health and to develop good lifetime nutritional habits.
• Provide scientifically sound, useful and constantly updated information gathered from credible science and nutrition professionals.

Going Viral: art-science collaboration (Glasgow 6th Sept to 21st Oct 2012)

Just a brief post to draw your attention to an event in Glasgow over the next two months:

The British Society of Immunology are putting on an art-science collaborative exhibition entitled Going Viral in Glasgow this September.

Going Viral is an innovative art-science project. It is the culmination of a collaborative programme of work undertaken by 6 artists and 4 immunologists. Through their joint exploration of key functions of our immune system – and the daily battles it fights – the Going Viral artists have produced artworks that consider, question, interpret and present the immunology they have researched.

Going Viral begins as an exhibition comprising stories, film, sculpture, images and music. The experiences and encounters of those who visit it will spread, virus like, across real and virtual networks and will continue to grow beyond the life of the exhibition.

Trevor Cromie is focussing on a representation of the patient’s progression through a life-threatening severe immune response, recovery and its aftermath – and how immunology has made survival possible. His focus is on the ‘emotional’ impact caused by anaphylaxis. Jo Hodges is working with a participant group of organ donor recipients to identify an object that they associate with their transplant and take fragments from these objects and image them using scientific techniques and then represent them as artworks. Jacqueline Donachie is working with a long term MS patient to explore the prevalence of MS in Scotland, evidence of the impact of sunlight deprivation and family history on the individual’s condition. Pete Baynes has written a dialogue between scientist and artists, entitled ‘A Portrait of the Scientist’, as well as several songs about things immunological. Hugh Watt is using film and sculpture to focus on the instruments of science. All the exhibits will be housed in a ‘host body’ structure created and designed by architect Ewan Imrie.

Going Viral will be at the Glasgow Science Centre from 6th September – 21st October 2012, entry is included with admission to the Glasgow Science Centre. It is funded by the British Society for Immunology, who commissioned Sound Strategies to develop and implement the project.

Please see www.bsigoingviral.org for more information or follow us on twitter @BSIGoingViral.

Global Handwashing Day (15th Oct 2012) Guiness World Record Attempt

I've just received news of an exciting new schools initiative from e-Bug.

On the 15^th October 2012, Global Handwashing Day, schools across the country will be taking part in a simultaneous hand hygiene lesson in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record! We would like as many teachers to be involved in the event as possible, and STEM ambassadors can take part in the day by acting as witnesses or stewards for a school attempting the record.

We would be very grateful if the STEM ambassadors could assist us in spreading the word about the event to teachers that they work with. Additionally, do you send out a schools newsletter that we could contribute to, or perhaps you could upload the details in the attached newsletter to your website for teachers to view?

I have attached the newsletter with more information for teachers, and the link for teachers to register their school for an information pack and consent form is:

http://www.e-bug.eu/junior_home.aspx?cc=eng&ss=1&t=Hand%20Hygiene%20day.

Any queries about the event and how STEM ambassadors can get involved can be directed to e-bug@hpa.org.uk

e-Bug background information

e-Bug is an exciting, fun and free microbiology, hygiene and health educational resource for junior (9 – 11yrs) and senior (12 – 15yrs) school students across Europe. Designed by health professionals, with input from schools and young people, and endorsed by the Department of Education, the e-Bug resource comprises of a teacher pack containing detailed lesson plans and an accompanying fun interactive website for students. All resources are available at www.e-Bug.eu .

If you would like to take this initiative forward I would be happy to discuss any of this in more detail. Please let me know if I can provide you with any further information.

Many thanks

Donna

e-Bug Project Manager

Health Protection Agency Primary Care Unit | Microbiology Department | Gloucester Royal Hospital | Great Western Road | Gloucester | GL1 3NN

T: +44 (0) 8454 225431 | F: +44 (0) 1452 526197 | Web: www.e-bug.eu

Society for General Microbiology - Marvelous Microbes Comic

Another teaching resource - this time a biological one from @SocGenMicro (Society for General Microbiology)

Society for General Microbiology | Teachers - Resources

Marvellous Microbes - A visit to the dentist (Issue 3)

In this issue of Marvellous Microbes a boy, curious to know why he needs to brush and floss his teeth twice a day, takes a trip to the dentist who introduces him to the plaque acid producing bacteria that live on our teeth. The comic includes an experiment to try at home looking at the function of fluoride toothpaste in our daily brushing routine.

• Download now
• Order a free copy now