• Question: Since you are scientists I am curious of what u have done to help others?

    Asked by anon-181464 on 7 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Alexandra Hogan

      Alexandra Hogan answered on 7 Jun 2018:


      Nice question! I work on using maths to see how useful a new vaccine might be in a big population of people, which can then help drug companies design the most effective vaccines. So, this helps people by contributing to better vaccine design, which then saves more lives or reduces illness.

    • Photo: Donna MacCallum

      Donna MacCallum answered on 7 Jun 2018:


      I run a lot of public engagement events (schools and festivals) to encourage people to find out more about the science that I do… I also lend my public engagement equipment for other people to go into schools, brownies and cubs!

    • Photo: Joaquin Zacarias Cabeza

      Joaquin Zacarias Cabeza answered on 7 Jun 2018:


      That is a very good question! In my different research projects during my scientifc training I have studied the molecular mechanisms of different type of cancer. By studing the open or close chromatin (DNA +proteins) structure we can figure out the genes that are responsible for cancer development. So far we have published several papers for leukemia cancer and more recently for mesothelioma cancer.

      These results have helped us to perform clinical trials and stratify the treatments/medicine for the patients. This allows us to identify and develop treatments that are effective for particular groups of patients. This will ensure that the right patient gets the right treatment at the right time.

    • Photo: Joey Shepherd

      Joey Shepherd answered on 7 Jun 2018:


      Have you heard of superbugs? They are bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics, the medicine we usually use to treat infections. More and more bacteria are becoming ‘superbugs’ so in our team we are looking at new treatments to help people with infections that don’t rely on antibiotics – things like new types of bandages for people with burns, who get infections very easily, and special pastes to help stop bone infections when someone has broken a bone or needs a hip replacement. We also do lots of work with people in other countries where there isn’t so much money for healthcare, like India, where we are developing new contact lens-type devices to help stop people from going blind after eye infections.

    • Photo: Alex Haragan

      Alex Haragan answered on 7 Jun 2018:


      Well I’m also a doctor so I have hopefully helped quite a few people!
      In regards to my science – mostly my work looks at working out which people will respond best to certain treatments.
      I look at lung cancer – and a big problem with treatment is they can have really nasty side effects and not even help sometimes!
      So my job is to work out what is the best treatment for people and help discover new medicines.
      I also like to do events talking to people (like this!) where I get the chance to encourage people to think about the importance of science.
      I don’t really think this event is about saying why we’re great – but about showing to all of you guys asking questions why science is interesting, why you should care about it, even if you don’t want to be a scientist.

    • Photo: Liza Selley

      Liza Selley answered on 8 Jun 2018:


      Hi Jimmyle

      Unlike a disease which only affects small numbers of people, air pollution is a problem for everyone. I work on a particular type of air pollution that hasn’t been studied before so have taken my research to Parliament to try to persuade politicians to make new laws that will limit how much of this pollution we are allowed to make. I also do some charity work here and there- charity’s are always grateful for help from people with scientific skills.

    • Photo: Ashley Akbari

      Ashley Akbari answered on 8 Jun 2018:


      We try and improve peoples lives and the services they receive by analysing data from around the UK from hospitals, general practice, trials, audits and many other sources in order to see where advances in current and new treatments can be made, as well as how prudent use of healthcare can be provided to those in need of it most

    • Photo: Joanne Sharpe

      Joanne Sharpe answered on 8 Jun 2018:


      Good question! Sometimes science can seem disconnected from our daily struggles, but ultimately all science is done to help people in some way down the line. I study a rare form of dementia which is not very well understood. Currently, there is no treatment, and I hope that one day the research I do will help other scientists create new treatments which could help people with this disease.

    • Photo: Claire Donald

      Claire Donald answered on 8 Jun 2018:


      This is a good question! I hope my work will help lots of people affected by viruses spread by mosquitoes. My work looks at how we can stop the mosquito spreading them when they bite someone but I also work on developing vaccines against these viruses.
      Like Donna, I also do a lot of public engagement and try to teach people how important it is to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes as you could become really ill.

    • Photo: Lauren Burns

      Lauren Burns answered on 8 Jun 2018:


      A very important question! My research hopes to reduce biases in diagnosis and treatment – as often mistakes can be made due to biases we don’t even know we have! There is something called the Implicit Association Test – you can probably find examples of this test online to see if you have any ‘implicit’ (i.e. internal, subconscious) biases!

    • Photo: Hannah Farley

      Hannah Farley answered on 10 Jun 2018:


      Well I like to think that eventually my work will help give answers to the patients and families who are affected by the disease I work on. Outside of my science, I am a Girl Guide leader, so I help others by giving them a chance to learn about themselves and develop their leadership and teamwork skills. I went to Rwanda as part of a project to train Girlguiding leaders over there for a month last summer. I’m going to train as a medical doctor when I finish my PhD. For me, helping others is a big motivation – I knew I wanted my career to be helping people before I knew that I was interested in science! I’ve done a lot of voluntary work because I think it’s really important to give back to your community, and I think you should try and live by your beliefs – I’m not religious, but as I believe we should give back and help others, I try and keep that central in what I do. Sometimes I struggle with my science not making as much of a practical difference as someone who is currently a doctor or nurse working in a and e – I didn’t save any lives today. But even if I can just give answers to one family, it would mean the world to them. And I don’t think it is fair for no one to work on rarer diseases, as it puts families affected by those diseases in a horrible hopeless position. I hope this answers your question both in terms of science and generally!

    • Photo: Laura Hemming

      Laura Hemming answered on 10 Jun 2018:


      Great question! I’m hoping to find that there is a relationship between how we deal with our emotions and suicide and aggression in prisoners. If this is true, then we will aim to develop a therapy which can focus on helping prisoners to deal with their emotions better – this will therefore reduce the chances of suicide and aggression for them.
      In addition to this, I have been working with a group of ex-offenders who have helped to shape my research for me to make sure that it is relevant to the prisoners that I am researching. I’ve therefore helped these small group of ex-offenders to get some paid work, and also helped to develop some research skills in them, which they may be able to use in other work positions.
      Finally, I have also recently run a public event which aimed to showcase the research being done at the University of Manchester into mental health. The idea of the event was to make sure that the people who we’re researching (those affected by mental health problems) have the chance to find out about the pioneering research that’s happening, and also have the chance to set the agenda for what we should be researching.

Comments