The community event gave local communities the chance to come along and learn more about our research, see how we involve patients and communities at every stage and even take part in interactive demonstrations of how our researchers are using cutting edge technology to make a difference.
Our vision is to transform lives through world-leading research in ageing and multiple long-term conditions. We want to ensure that our research improves health and care for people across our region, as well as nationally and internationally and engaging and involving patients and members of the public is critical to achieving that impact. Judith McGuinness, Patient, Public, Involvement and Engagement Manager, NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) said: ‘The NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre's Celebration of Research Excellence: Community Event was a real success, highlighting the amazing work of our research themes and our commitment to putting patients and the public at the centre of research to drive improvements in health’.
‘The enthusiasm and engagement from all our participants were really inspiring and we are excited to carry on that good work and keep working with the public to design and deliver inclusive research that benefits our whole community’
After being welcomed by BRC Director Professor Avan Aihie Sayer attendees had the chance to hear speakers from each of our eight research themes, learning more about their expertise and recent success stories, as well as how they work with public contributors and learning about opportunities to get involved. As well as hearing about the pioneering research taking place in BRC priority areas like ageing, dementia and rare diseases, there was a chance to hear examples how members of the public have been at the heart of our work, making sure that our research is inclusive and relevant to as many people as possible. This included:
Wendy Broderick, who is part of the BRC Public Partnerships Advisory Group and linked with the Musculoskeletal Disease
and Inflammation Medicine Research Theme, said:
“The quality of my life has greatly benefitted from the amazing research that has taken place over the last few decades in the field of rheumatology. The Celebration Event was a great success bringing the public together with local researchers to hear all about the latest advances and possible future breakthroughs. It was really important for people to hear about all the different ways they could contribute to health research and the organisations to make contact with if they wanted to get involved. My personal thanks go to all the contributors, exhibitors and speakers, and all those who made the day happen.”
The day also gave participants the chance to take part in a range of interactive demonstrations. Importantly there was a chance to speak directly to researchers, share their opinions, and find out how to get involved in research.
Ageing, Sarcopenia and Multimorbidity:
The Ageing, Sarcopenia and Multimorbidity (ASM) Theme offered delegates the opportunity to have their hand grip strength measured. Measuring a person's grip strength is an easy way to assess whether a person may have sarcopenia; the loss of muscle strength as we age. More than 60 people got their grip strength measured on the day.
Dementia, Mental Health and Neurodegeneration: Their demonstration featured a saline net EEG (brainwave recorder), which is a valuable tool in mental health and dementia research, as it captures real-time brain activity helping to investigate patterns of brain activity that might be signs of early dementia or psychiatric conditions. Event participants were able to wear the saline net EEG to experience how it works and feels.
Digital Health, Ageing Innovation and Inclusion:
The Digital Health, Ageing Innovation and Inclusion theme hosted a stand demonstrating some of the equipment that is used for the technical validation of wearable sensors.
Informatics and Precision Care for an Ageing Population:
Supported by Olympus, the theme was able to let patients get hands-on with colonoscopy equipment and try the procedure themselves using simulation models. The theme uses colonoscopy as part of their research to better understand how immune cells and gut bacteria drive conditions like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and bowel cancer.
Liver Disease, Multimorbidity and Lifestyle:
A Connect 4 board was used as a method to capture opinions from participants on which cause of liver disease they thought most needs research. The final votes showed that lifestyle related/ fatty liver disease (or MASLD) was most popular as a topic for more research.
Musculoskeletal Disease and Inflammation Medicine:
The theme demonstrated the process of a joint biopsy, including a live demo of ultrasound scanning of people’s wrists. The theme displayed a microscope to view joint biopsy sample slides and a computer screen showing figures of these samples stained with fluorescent antibodies to the public to showcase their work.
Skin Disease, Oral Disease and Immunogenomics:
The goal of the theme’s demonstration was to explain to the public what Immunogenomics is - and what a typical experiment can look like. The Theme used kiwi fruit and household supplies to demonstrate a DNA extraction technique.
During the day, we were also joined by Deputy Director for Research Capacity & Growth at the Department of Health & Social Care Alice Mortlock, who had time to meet research participants, PPI contributors and researchers and see some of the research, collaboration and partnerships the BRC supports across the region.
The NIHR Newcastle BRC sits at the heart of a world-leading research environment in Newcastle and plays an important role in the health ecosystem of our wider region. Partnership and collaboration are vital to our success and the event featured a range of exhibitors from regional research organisations including NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, NIHR BioResource Centre, NIHR HealthTech Research Centre, NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration, Newcastle Health Research Partnership, Newcastle University Faculty of Medical Science, VOICE Global, and Voluntary Organisations Network Northeast (VONNE). Event participants and the local community were able to connect to other research organisations, address questions and find out about the work that is going on beyond the BRC and across our partnerships.
As a BRC we strongly believe that the best research happens when done with people who have lived experiences. We involve patients and communities at every stage of our research and events such as the Celebration of Research Excellence: Community Event is just one way in which we are working to ensure that our research is inclusive and relevant to as many people as possible.
How to get involved