British Science Festival takes centre stage
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Published
12 September 2024
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The highly anticipated return of the British Science Festival to London for the first time in 24 years, hosted at the University of East London (UEL), began with a vibrant, action-packed first day.
The free festival, running from 11 to 15 September and open to the public, transformed UEL’s Docklands Campus into a hub of scientific exploration, with participants of all ages diving headfirst into cutting-edge research, workshops, and live demonstrations.
A dominant theme throughout the day was the exploration of health inequalities and social determinants of health, which particularly affect the east London boroughs.
Sessions throughout the day delved into the importance of addressing these factors in creating more equitable health systems, drawing attention to how policy, innovation, and community engagement can reduce the gap in health outcomes.
In his Presidential Address, Professor Ian Tucker from the University of East London, this year’s British Science Association (BSA) Visiting President of Sociology and Social Policy, explored the growth of digital technology in the mental health space. While noting that apps and online contacts had advantages of ease of use and flexibility, there was a downside in the loss of social contact and face to face therapies.
Professor Tucker said, “Digital isn’t just one thing – an app or chatbot – so we need to understand how it integrates with other health provision. Digital isn’t used in a vacuum; it integrates into people’s lives and into existing care services.
We’re advocating for more community and peer support services, and we want to see what role digital can play in allowing people access to those kinds of activities. How can digital supplement and support these services rather than being seen as something entirely different?
The first day of the festival was also a day for the media to explore what was on offer. Science correspondents from leading publications, including The Guardian, The Times, and Financial Times, talked to academics and made a special visit to the renowned BabyDevLab at the Stratford Campus.
Research by the BabyDevLab, led by Professor Sam Wass, is exploring how early life experiences impact the long-term development of mental health problems in teenagers and in later life.
Using innovative techniques like small wearable sensors, the lab captures the sights and sounds babies are exposed to at home and in childcare settings, examining factors such as screen time and chaotic environments.
The research also explores how outdoor learning and parental responsiveness can mitigate the effects of stressful early environments, with studies even measuring brain activity in both children and parents to understand emotional contagion and parental influence on mental health development.
As part of the British Science Festival, the public is invited to join the BabyDevLab on Saturday, 14 September and step inside an immersive environment that mimics the perceptions and environments of children through real life data collection from infants monitored in their day-to-day environments.
Wednesday’s events at the British Science Festival saw a diverse range of topics delivered in accessible ways, engaging attendees in thought-provoking and interactive experiences. UEL’s Professor Julia Davidson led an immersive journey into the metaverse, exploring its potential to shape the future of online interactions and its implications for health and cybercrime, and Professor Sally Cutler’s session on tick-borne diseases gave participants hands-on insight into the world of “Nature’s Vampires,” with close-up views of ticks under the microscope.
A team, working with UEL’s Dr Mohammed Meah, guided discussions on the ongoing controversy surrounding vaping, while Exercise Physiology Lecturer Jamie Edwards demonstrated the effects of fatigue on healthcare staff through eye-tracking technology. On a lighter note, participants explored the biology of body odour.
Festival attendee Magda Kowalski, originally from Poland but now living in east London, said, “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s really nice to feel like these big scientific ideas are being made for everyone, not just people in labs. I’m in my 50s and never thought I’d be this excited about science, but here I am, loving every minute of it!”
Later in the day, at a session run concurrently with the British Science Festival, a panel of distinguished guests explored ‘The Future of HealthTech’, asking how it could create inclusive health systems.
Opening the round table, Professor Amanda Broderick, Vice Chancellor and President of the University of East London, outlined the role the University was playing.
She said, “At the University of East London we are deeply committed to addressing health inequalities. In fact, this is our institutional purpose – to address health and economic inequalities wherever they are found. Our inclusive educational mission is one of the primary tools that we have to achieve this.
Our efforts contribute to the government’s focus on the evolution of the NHS – from hospital to community, from analogue to digital and from illness to prevention. We’re implementing a multi-million-pound programme of investment to deliver this, including our newly launched Stratford Health Campus driving health care innovation and ill health prevention, particularly in our most vulnerable communities.
Senior public health expert and new British Science Association (BSA) president, Professor Kevin Fenton, chaired the panel and, later, went on to offer his thoughts on tackling health inequalities, his hopes and fears over AI and his own storied background championing community health in the US and UK.
He played a significant role with Public Health England confronting Covid-19 which, he said, exposed for the first time the true impact of structural racism on health outcomes. It was a theme he returned to time and again in an inspiring conversation with the BBC’s Kirsty Lang.
He recalled pulling together a report for government within six weeks at the beginning of lockdown exploring the issue. He said, “To this day, colleagues still say that was a pivotal report for the pandemic. It was one of the first government reports that explicitly said that in order to tackle what was happening we needed to recognise the role that structural racism was playing, in terms of preventing communities from trusting the health services, the way people were treated and the outcomes. That was a tough message, but it was important and honest because that finding unlocked a whole series of investments and ways of working.”
Day one of the British Science Festival was a resounding success, packed with diverse activities that inspired curiosity, conversation, and a fresh appreciation for the power of science. The energy and enthusiasm on campus set the stage for an unforgettable festival, with many more discoveries, discussions, and hands-on experiments yet to come over the next four days.
To view the full programme and book your free tickets, visit: British Science Festival homepage.