NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) showcase event highlighted the cutting edge work of our research teams.

On November 1 2012, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Imperial BRC opened its doors to patients, healthcare professionals, A-Level Biology students from the Burlington Danes Academy and members of the local community of North West London to enable them to explore the variety and breadth of translational research being undertaken at the BRC.

Visitors marvelled at the opportunity to partake in hands-on workshops that included liver monitoring, DNA extractions, neurological visual tasks, handling a biopsy gun and the operation of a robotic system used in surgical procedures. Amongst the other exhibits was the showcase of an air filtration device designed to benefit patients with asthma, a coronary care simulation and representation from our partners at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust Cardiovascular and Respiratory Biomedical Research Units and colleagues at the North West London Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC).

Attendees were invited to witness at first-hand the instrumentation and techniques used with tours of the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Imperial Clinical Research Facility housed within the purpose-built Imperial College Centre for Translational and Experimental Medicine.

In the afternoon, a discussion forum including panellists representing Imperial College London, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the NIHR Central Commissioning Facility took place and addressed issues about the source and use of BRC funding and opportunities for patient involvement. This event lent itself to the unique opportunity for informal discussion directly with leading researchers from each of the 19 NIHR Imperial BRC Research Themes and practical insight into what research questions are currently being investigated and why.

Speaking at the event, Professor Jonathan Weber, Director of the NIHR Imperial BRC and Director of Research at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London (Faculty of Medicine), said: “The exhibits were hands-on which made the event very interesting and the investigators’ passion about their work really came across. It was a great success, showing the public the range of research we do from genetics to robots and everything in-between.”

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