Shaping the Future: Celebrating the Past, Present and Future of Health Research in Sheffield and Beyond
First ever Shaping the Future event held at Sheffield Winter Gardens
Sheffield healthcare researchers joined forces at a special event showing how medical innovations and clinical research happens through hands-on activities, demonstrations, and exhibitions.
On Saturday 22nd July, researchers from across Sheffield held the first ever 'Shaping the Future' event at Sheffield Winter Gardens to celebrate past, present and future healthcare innovations.
The event was organised by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals in partnership with Sheffield Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield to mark the 75th birthday of the NHS and the annual National Institute for Health and Care Research's (NIHR) Be Part of Research campaign.
Visitors to the event were able to try out interactive activities with researchers including measuring out fake blood to test their lab skills, using lego to bring to life creative inventions to improve children’s health and took part in a mock clinical trial to see how researchers find out if a new treatment will work and be safe.
Feedback from the public was overwhelmingly positive with people describing the researchers and the activities as “really informative”, “super activities with friendly and engaging staff” and “fascinating and inspiring”.
A week-long exhibition of the outstanding contribution Sheffield researchers have made to advances in healthcare has also been in place at Sheffield Winter Gardens.
The exhibition featured eye-catching displays showing how zebrafish can be used to combat human disease, the use of virtual reality in helping people with swallowing difficulties after stroke, artistic explorations of heart and lung scans and developments in diabetes treatments and the Sheffield contribution. Visitors reported how the displays enabled complex information to be easily understood.
The event was an ideal chance to showcase the collaborative work of researchers across the region and highlight the vital contribution that research and innovation make to improving healthcare for everyone across the region and beyond.
You can find out more about how you can be part of research on the NIHR website.
