Tissue Repair PhD student Ella Mercer wins 2020 Public Engagement Award at CRM Retreat.

Public Engagement Award at 2020 CRM Online retreat won by Tissue Repair PhD student Ella Mercer

Congratulations to Ella Mercer, who was awarded the 2020 CRM Public Engagement Prize. Ella is a Tissue Repair PhD student in the lab of Dr Elaine Emmerson at CRM. She studies how nerves interact with the immune system to control inflammation in salivary glands. Many patients with head and neck cancer are treated with radiotherapy. Although radiotherapy is good at killing the cancer cells, it also causes damage and inflammation of the healthy tissues and nerves surrounding the cancer. Ella’s research aims to gain insight into whether nerves play a positive role in controlling inflammation, which may lead to ways to mimic lost nerve signals to regulate inflammation to promote a pro-regenerative environment.

Ella was awarded the prize for her substantial and innovative Public Engagement initiatives. Her enthusiasm to engage with a wide audience within several competitions, initiatives and events was highly commended by faculty at the centre.

Ella has been busy in 2019/20: winning ‘I’m a Scientist’, volunteering for PE activities at schools, online science writing, coming up with creative new ideas, securing Public Engagement funding (including an award from the British Society for Immunology), involvement in the Centre’s community science engagement project, patient engagement and involvement in the G-Lands Sci-Art collaboration.