A preview of Edinburgh Science Festival 2017

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Participants at the Dolly, DNA and Me workshop

The Easter holidays are approaching which means it’s almost time for the Edinburgh International Science Festival. As per previous years the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine is well represented in events for every interest and age group.

Get connected

The Edinburgh International Science Festival runs from April 1st to April 16th in venues right across the city. Organisers are encouraging attendees to get connected to science, each other and to the global community with the overall aim being for a sustainable future.

There are plenty of engaging and hands on activities on offer for children and families but also talks, debates, screenings and workshops for adults too.

Have a browse through the events below for opportunities to catch up with colleagues who are involved in this year’s festival.

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Nicholas Mills

Moments in time exhibition

If you pass by The Mound at any time during the Science Festival you may notice an array of iconic Scottish police boxes.

Tying in with The 2017 Scottish Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology this exhibition celebrates Scotland’s fascinating past, greatest figures and iconic attractions.

Where else would you expect to find Dolly the Sheep? If you delve into the correct police box you will find a showcase of current research from The Roslin Institute plus a tribute to our very own Scottish icon, Dolly.

Find out more about the exhibition here

Heart Attack: Sciences’s Battle of the Sexes

Saturday 1st April

Professor Nick Mills and Doctor Anoop Shah, both of the Centre for Cardiovascular Science will be leading a discussion on coronary heart disease, Scotland’s single biggest killer. They will be joined by a GP and a female heart attack survivor.

Book tickets here

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Participants in the Amazing Immunology workshop experience the 'rash decisions' ball pool

A healthy philosophy: we need to talk about how we value our medicines

Monday 3rd April

Professor David Webb of the Centre for Cardiovascular Science will be on a panel of scientists discussing key questions such as:

Who should we spend more money on medicines for, the elderly or the young? And should cancer be a special case?

The audience will be asked which medicines they might like to fund and why.

Book tickets here

Connecting Codes to Cures and Amazing Immunology

From Tuesday 11th April to Saturday 15th April you’ll find representatives from both Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre and the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research in the Learning Zone at the National Museum of Scotland.

Children are invited to get hands on ‘to crack the secret code of DNA’ with the Cancer Research team and explore allergies, infections and vaccinations with researchers from the MRC CIR team.

Find out more about Connecting Codes here and Amazing Immunology here

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Reserach

Lothian Birth Cohort Project

Tuesday 11th April

Join researchers from the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology to find out about the longest study of human cognition in the world, based right here at the University of Edinburgh.

The study continues to analyse the intelligence of school children born in 1921 and 1936 and focusses on how childhood mental capacity affects health and cognitive function in later life.

Book tickets here

From séance to science: Who is psychology’s greatest hero?

Friday 14th April

Professor Thomas Bak of the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences will join two of his colleagues from the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences to discuss, debate and decide who played the biggest role in transforming pyscholgy from anecdotes into science.

Each of the panel will argue who they consider to be the most important scientist in the history of psychology.

Book your tickets here

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Professor Craig Ritchie

Dementia research and prevention: Illuminating brain changes

Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th April

Professor Craig Ritchie and Dr Tara Spires Jones will be discussing how the brain works, what goes wrong when people develop dementia and their work towards preventing and treating the condition.

Following the talk attendees will be invited on a tour of the research laboratory within the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems at 1 George Square. They will be given the opportunity to operate microscopes and view the illuminated brain.

After the tour there will be a reception and interactive forum where researchers will be on hand to answer and questions in a relaxed setting.

Book tickets here