MRC CIR takes part in the Edinburgh International Science Festival

April 2018: The MRC CIR participated at the Edinburgh International Science Festival with a brand new Amazing Immunology workshop

A brand new ‘Amazing Immunology’ workshop, conceived and developed by Iris Mair, David Taggart, Donald J. Davidson, Ross Mills, Julia Dorin and Marc Vendrell, with funding from the British Society for Immunology, was delivered by representatives of the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research at the Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018.

The workshop was a massive success, with an overall attendance of around 80 children (mostly aged 7 to 13) and 30 adults.

The workshop participants learned basic immunology concepts before participating in an activity focused on cancer immunology. They enjoyed a cartoon, puppets, sticker activity and a wildly active new ballpool game; role playing T cells or dendritic cells, fishing for “tumour cells”, generating an immune response (with or without “medical interventions”) and using their throwing skills to try to destroy the “cancers”!

Excellent feedback was collected at the end of the workshop from adults and children, which is a fantastic reward for the volunteers who ran the activities in these 4 days of fun and science.

Links:

Edinburgh International Science Festival (external website)

British Society for Immunology (external website)