Outreach

Members of the group are enthusiastic about outreach, working with two schools in Sheffield: Stannington Infant School, and Nook Lane Junior School. We have also run workshops in local secondary schools.

We also work closely with a diabetes group in Sheffield - The LADDER group, which is made up of patients, carers and people with an interest in diabetes or an endocrine condition. This is to ensure that the diabetes and endocrine research carried out locally is patient focused. The outreach events we have attended included the Diabetes Gala in November 2023. 

As a member of the Florey Institute of Infection management board, me and the team attended the 2024 Yorkshire AMR symposium, which was attended by a wide audience of school children, clinicians and academics. 

AMR SYMPOSIUM: Check out the Yorkshire symposium 2024 event here

LADDER STATEMENT: Brenda Riley, a member of the LADDER group, gives a statement on our DiaPhage research.

NATIONAL PRESS:  Our work has also been highlighted in the National news- Zoo-phage 2023

CHARITY INTERACTIONS: The group also attended a local Diabetes-UK wellbeing event- LINK


Our favourite activity is to engage in classroom workshops developed in conjunction with teachers to make sure relevance to the curriculum as well as introducing new concepts and ideas. 

We have also engaged in National Science week, Festival of the mind.

Workshops we have delivered include:

We often discuss major topics in microbiology and health such as; antimicrobial resistance, the importance of vaccination, hand and oral hygiene. We have microscopes and cameras that allow viewing microbes in real-time, these have even included teachers oral swab Gram Stains, urine samples and agar plate analysis.

We have also showcased some of the EPSRC Twenty65 work to discuss the importance of what we flush down our toilets, or pour down sinks in the context of Fatbergs, FOGs and wet-wipes. The pupils designed their own experimental protocol for testing wet-wipes and their likelihood of degradation or persistence in the sewage system and wider environment. 

The team usually includes enthusiastic volunteer PhD students and ECRs and sometimes in conjunction with Prachi Staffords team from Sheffield Hallam University.

Graham points out a fatberg rat to pupils at Nook Lane in 2019
ITV10NEWS.mov

News item on phage work ITV News

Samie, Chandra and Antonia took part in Science Alive 2023!

Graham presenting at the Diabetes UK Gala event on how phage therapy can be used to treat diabetic foot ulcers

Elspeth, Samie and Chandra present their posters at the Florey institute AMR symposium 2024


Elspeth, Samie and Chandra present their posters at the Florey institute AMR symposium 2024