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Your health, your future: public open day
Updated 22 March 2011
Oxford Biomedical Research Centre
Public Open Day
Thursday 17 March 2011
West Wing and Children's Hospital atrium
John Radcliffe Hospital|
On 17 March 2011 the atrium of the West Wing and Children's Hospital was crowded with people learning all about medical research and how it is having an impact on our lives. They extracted DNA from strawberries, identified bugs on the Infection Theme stand and found out how many lumps' worth of sugar there really was in their morning bowl of cereal.
This was the second open day organised by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre|, a partnership between the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Oxford, with funding from the National Institute of Health Research.
Our research open day took place during Oxfordshire Science Festival|; it was also Global Brain Awareness Week| week. Our many visitors were able to speak to researchers who study the brain, finding out how measuring eye movement is connected to Parkinson's Disease research; how our sleep patterns can be connected to our mental health, and much more.
In the morning there was an invitation only session for schools, where students met the experts to find out more about science, technology, engineering and maths, and the career choices they can lead to.
Paul Johnson, Professor of Paediatric Surgery, introduced experts who are using the latest technology in medicine. They gave an overview of their research, such as:
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how sight may be restored in the bionic eye trial;
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how surgeons are using high intensity sound waves to heat up and destroy cancer cells;
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how robotic surgical devices are so precise they can peel the skin off a grape without damaging the flesh.