Pipettes, pixels, and public engagement: A summer with the Udalova Lab
It’s been a summer of science, creativity, and curiosity for the Udalova Lab! From teaching T cells, to playing board games about immunity, the team has been out inspiring students and showing that research can be as fun as it is fascinating.
This Summer has been an eventful one for the Udalova lab! Our lab members have been busy exhibiting their research to the public and inspiring the next generation of scientists through outreach work.
Oxplore Festivals
DPhil students Josephine and Julia were delighted to represent NDORMS at the Oxplore Festivals in Bradford and Warrington. Oxplore is a University of Oxford initiative that encourages state school students to ask big questions, challenge fundamentals, follow their passions and curiosity, and envision a future for themselves at university.
The Oxplore festivals take this mission on the road, showcasing the breadth of dynamic and exciting research that goes on across the university through interactive exhibitions and workshops. This year the festival visited Bradford and Warrington, giving over 1,200 local pupils an opportunity to engage directly with researchers, explore their interests, and consider what higher education might look like for them.
Josephine demonstrates the knee keyhole surgery and pixel art is being created with a pipette.
Surgery simulation
Through the exhibition, Josephine introduced students to the research that scientists and clinicians across NDORMS are engaged in, as well as the techniques and tools researchers use to interrogate th
Julia at the Guardians of immunity exhibit
eir hypotheses. Students could test their surgical abilities with a keyhole knee surgery training simulator or gain an appreciation for the accuracy and precision afforded by micropipettes through creating pixel art in 96-well plate
s - developing skills to serve them in the operating theatre, at the lab bench, and beyond!
Guardians of ImmunitY
Julia was leading one of the workshops, titled “Guardians of Immunity”. In this workshop, students were introduced to the immune system and its key players through a board game. They also carried out their own experiment using laboratory equipment to determine what “invader” T cells (a type of immune cell)
were specific for. It was great to see the students directly interacting with science, getting excited about research and asking insightful questions.
Bio-tech and bio-art
Marah, a DPhil student in the lab, was excited to be tutoring students under the Oxbridge programs. Through this program, she had the chance to work with 9 students from different countries and introduce them to the field of genetics, immunology and biotechnology. The students developed amazing ideas for a biotech start-up; the ideas ranged from using a CRISPR-edited bacterium to recycle sewer water to a potential treatment for breast cancer. To top it all off, Ida and Oyindamola put together a fantastic Bio-Art Exhibition in the histology lab. It was an incredible experience for everyone involved!
Ida and Oyindamola showcasing their Bio-Art Exhibition to students in the histology lab