MRC Epidemiology Unit PhD students and scientists took part in the inaugural Cambridge Festival, held online due to the Covid pandemic. The Cambridge Festival spanned the humanities and sciences, and featured over 350 free virtual events from Friday 26 March to Sunday 4 April.

Involving people in research during the Covid-19 pandemic

On Tuesday 30 March Unit scientists Dr Kirsten Rennie and Dr Rebecca Richards discussed with Unit Director Professor Nick Wareham how telehealth approaches are transforming the ways we are conducting research. Their presentations looked at the Fenland Covid-19 and SWiM-C studies as examples of how online platforms, devices and smartphone technology enabled researchers to continue research and engage with study participants whilst maintaining COVID-19 physical distancing.

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All in a day’s work for Unit PhD students

Earlier on Monday 29 March Unit PhD students Julia Carrasco Zanini Sanchez and Matthew Keeble took part in the Cambridge Biomedical Campus event ‘Life Sciences – a day in our lives’ where PhD students from across the Campus talked about their average day in a series of three minute videos.

Matthew also answered pre-recorded questions from secondary school pupils and live questions from the audience for ‘A young person’s guide to the life sciences’, which was broadcast on Thursday 1 April.

Congratulations to everyone in the Unit and across Cambridge who helped make the Festival a success despite the challenging circumstances!