Computational systems biology of ageing in haematopoiesis and the immune system
Lead Research Organisation:
Babraham Institute
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
Ageing is a multidimensional process associated with decline in many physical and psychological functions. These life changes have their origin in our genomes, and are influenced by diet, life-style and the environment. One of the key changes associated with ageing that seriously affects the health of the elderly is a decrease in the functioning of the immune system. The immune system normally works to fight infections to keep us healthy. However, the immune system in the elderly is less active, leaving them much more prone to infection and resulting in deterioration in the quality of life in later years and in many cases early death. In this project we will apply powerful new genome-wide technologies to measure many of the effects of ageing in mouse blood cells, with a particular focus on B cells, the blood cells that make antibodies and form a major part of the immune system. We will use this information to identify specific genes whose expression or function is altered in cells from aged mice, and which may be contributing to a deterioration in immune cell function in the elderly. We will then attempt to change the expression of some of these key ageing-related genes experimentally, to determine their role in acceleration or delay of the ageing process and immune system function. A potential impact of this work is an extension of the healthy life span, by providing new information and understanding of the processes of ageing in immune cells and other cells of the blood.
Planned Impact
unavailable
Organisations
- Babraham Institute (Lead Research Organisation)
- Agilent Technologies (Collaboration)
- EMBL European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL - EBI) (Collaboration)
- KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE (Collaboration)
- Institute of Cancer Research UK (Collaboration)
- BABRAHAM INSTITUTE (Collaboration)
- CANCER RESEARCH UK (Collaboration)
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
- RIKEN (Collaboration)
Publications
Chovanec P
(2018)
Unbiased quantification of immunoglobulin diversity at the DNA level with VDJ-seq
in Nature Protocols
Collier A
(2017)
Comprehensive Cell Surface Protein Profiling Identifies Specific Markers of Human Naive and Primed Pluripotent States
in Cell Stem Cell
Corcoran AE
(2012)
Editorial overview. Lymphocyte development.
in Current opinion in immunology
Dobnikar L
(2018)
Disease-relevant transcriptional signatures identified in individual smooth muscle cells from healthy mouse vessels.
in Nature communications
Duran AL
(2013)
Shared Ageing Research Models (ShARM): a new facility to support ageing research.
in Biogerontology
Fellows R
(2020)
Chromatin dynamics and histone modifications in intestinal microbiota-host crosstalk.
in Molecular metabolism
Freire-Pritchett P
(2017)
Global reorganisation of cis-regulatory units upon lineage commitment of human embryonic stem cells.
in eLife
| Title | CHROMOS |
| Description | A creative collaboration with electronic musician Max Cooper and video artist Andy Lomas on a music video and a virtual reality exhibit illustrating the 3D structure of DNA based on real data arising from single-cell Hi-C assay. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | The music video and virtual reality exhibit were showcased at Cambridge Science Festival, Science Museum Lates (London), and ZKM Open Codes exhibition (Karlsruhe, Germany), with plans for further appearances. The music video forms part of Max Cooper's Emergence project that he performs throughout the world to high critical acclaim (see, e.g., coverage in the Wired magazine - http://www.wired.co.uk/article/max-coopers-science-inspired-music-will-blow-your-mind). |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyxwoLHFv_U |
| Description | We have used an integrative genome-wide approach to determine changes in gene regulation and nuclear organisation that may help to explain why B lymphocytes in the aged bone marrow proliferate poorly and produce a poor antibody repertoire, contributing to impaired response to infection in the elderly. We have found that a key signalling pathway, the insulin-like growth factor receptor pathway, is impaired in aged progenitor B cells. Importantly this impairment occurs at multiple epigenetic levels. Increased repressive histone modifications and decreased activating histone modifications at promoters, increased antagonistic microRNAs, and decreased interactions of key IGF1r signalling genes, combine to reduce expression of these genes. This may be a key contributor to loss of B cells in ageing. This research has been published in Genome Biology in 2018. High throughput computational algorithrms for the analysis and interpretation of promoter capture HiC data. |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings provide a comprehensive dataset of all the genes up and down regulated in ageing B cells. We are following up the Igf1r signalling pathway, but there are several other dysregulated pathways that could be explored by others for greater understanding and to take forward to clinical intervention studies. |
| Sectors | Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | Development of educational resources (Chromos virtual reality of the nucleus, in collaboration with musician and graphic designer, toured Europe); Immune Army, Molecular structure of the nucleus exhibits and Cambridge Science festival and Royal Society Summer Exhibition. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | BBSRC AMRWG |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | CaSE Opinion Forum invitation: the impact of immigration on science and engineering |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Management Board of shARM (sharing Ageing Research Models) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| Impact | Provision of a not for profit Biobank of aged mouse tissues to the ageing mouse research community |
| URL | https://www.sharmuk.org |
| Description | member of BBSRC Tools and Resources Development Fund (TRDF1) review panel |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| Description | BBSRC DTP |
| Amount | £113,878 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | PAAG/048 - Task 5 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2021 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | BBSRC DTP |
| Amount | £120,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2013 |
| End | 10/2017 |
| Description | BBSRC DTP iCASE |
| Amount | £105,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2016 |
| End | 09/2020 |
| Description | BBSRC iCASE PhD studentships |
| Amount | £98,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2014 |
| End | 09/2018 |
| Description | International postdoctoral fellowship |
| Amount | 3,500,000Â kr (SEK) |
| Organisation | Swedish Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Sweden |
| Start | 01/2014 |
| End | 01/2017 |
| Description | MRC DTP |
| Amount | £120,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2015 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | National Productivity ad Investment Fund studentship |
| Amount | £120,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2017 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Description | University of Cambridge Doctoral Training Programme |
| Amount | £120,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2019 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Title | CHiCAGO |
| Description | The CHiCAGO computational pipeline for Capture Hi-C data analysis. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Our computational pipeline is published (Cairns et al., Genome Biology 2016) and publicly available as an open source R package Chicago on Bioconductor and bitbucket. It has become a de-facto standard for Capture Hi-C data analysis and has an active user base internationally. |
| URL | http://regulatorygenomicsgroup.org/chicago |
| Description | Bertie Gottgens collab |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed promoter capture Hi-C |
| Collaborator Contribution | Other experiments and analyses. |
| Impact | Integrated genome-scale analysis of the transcriptional regulatory landscape in a blood stem/progenitor cell model NK Wilson, S Schoenfelder, R Hannah, MS Castillo, J Schütte, ...(2016) Blood, blood-2015-10-677393 |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Bertie Gottgens collab |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Department of Haematology |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed promoter capture Hi-C |
| Collaborator Contribution | Other experiments and analyses. |
| Impact | Integrated genome-scale analysis of the transcriptional regulatory landscape in a blood stem/progenitor cell model NK Wilson, S Schoenfelder, R Hannah, MS Castillo, J Schütte, ...(2016) Blood, blood-2015-10-677393 |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Collab with CW |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Department of Medicine |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Conceptualisation, methodology and analysis of Capture Hi-C data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Statistical analysis and visualisation tools for Capture Hi-C data. |
| Impact | Within the scope of this grant, the CHiCP tool and two papers (submitted and in preparation). Interdisciplinary collaboration (statistics/biology). Jointly presented our work on Cambridge TV. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Collab with DZ |
| Organisation | EMBL European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL - EBI) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Method development and analysis of Capture Hi-C data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Integration of Capture Hi-C data with Ensembl regulatory build; statistical advice. |
| Impact | Within the scope of this grant, the Chicago computational pipeline for Capture Hi-C data. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Collab with PRG |
| Organisation | Babraham Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Analysis and conceptualisation of Capture Hi-C data. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Generation of human ES cells and ES-derived progenitors, stem cell expertise. |
| Impact | Freire-Pritchett et al., eLife 2017. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Collab with VP |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Department | Genetics Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Development of computational tools for Capture Hi-C data analysis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Statistical advice on Capture Hi-C data analysis. |
| Impact | Cairns et al., Genome Biology 2016. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Collaboration with Elderkin |
| Organisation | Agilent Technologies |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Performed Promoter capture Hi-C and other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Impact | Polycomb repressive complex PRC1 spatially constrains the mouse embryonic stem cell genome S Schoenfelder, R Sugar, A Dimond, BM Javierre, H Armstrong, B Mifsud, et al., Nature Genetics 47,1179-1186 (2015) |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Collaboration with Elderkin |
| Organisation | Babraham Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed Promoter capture Hi-C and other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Impact | Polycomb repressive complex PRC1 spatially constrains the mouse embryonic stem cell genome S Schoenfelder, R Sugar, A Dimond, BM Javierre, H Armstrong, B Mifsud, et al., Nature Genetics 47,1179-1186 (2015) |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Collaboration with Elderkin |
| Organisation | Cancer Research UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Performed Promoter capture Hi-C and other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Impact | Polycomb repressive complex PRC1 spatially constrains the mouse embryonic stem cell genome S Schoenfelder, R Sugar, A Dimond, BM Javierre, H Armstrong, B Mifsud, et al., Nature Genetics 47,1179-1186 (2015) |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Collaboration with Elderkin |
| Organisation | EMBL European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL - EBI) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed Promoter capture Hi-C and other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Impact | Polycomb repressive complex PRC1 spatially constrains the mouse embryonic stem cell genome S Schoenfelder, R Sugar, A Dimond, BM Javierre, H Armstrong, B Mifsud, et al., Nature Genetics 47,1179-1186 (2015) |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Collaboration with Elderkin |
| Organisation | RIKEN |
| Department | RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology |
| Country | Japan |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Performed Promoter capture Hi-C and other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed other experiments with collaborating team, shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Impact | Polycomb repressive complex PRC1 spatially constrains the mouse embryonic stem cell genome S Schoenfelder, R Sugar, A Dimond, BM Javierre, H Armstrong, B Mifsud, et al., Nature Genetics 47,1179-1186 (2015) |
| Start Year | 2012 |
| Description | Collaboration with Olivia Fletcher et al |
| Organisation | Institute of Cancer Research UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed capture Hi-C with collaborators |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed capture Hi-C and data analyses. |
| Impact | Capture Hi-C identifies the chromatin interactome of colorectal cancer risk loci R Jäger, G Migliorini, M Henrion, R Kandaswamy, HE Speedy, A Heindl, ...(2015) Nature communications 6, Article number: 6178 Unbiased analysis of potential targets of breast cancer susceptibility loci by Capture Hi-C NH Dryden, LR Broome, F Dudbridge, N Johnson, N Orr, S Schoenfelder, ...(2014) Genome research 24 (11), 1854-1868 |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Collaboration with Olivia Fletcher et al |
| Organisation | Karolinska Institute |
| Country | Sweden |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed capture Hi-C with collaborators |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed capture Hi-C and data analyses. |
| Impact | Capture Hi-C identifies the chromatin interactome of colorectal cancer risk loci R Jäger, G Migliorini, M Henrion, R Kandaswamy, HE Speedy, A Heindl, ...(2015) Nature communications 6, Article number: 6178 Unbiased analysis of potential targets of breast cancer susceptibility loci by Capture Hi-C NH Dryden, LR Broome, F Dudbridge, N Johnson, N Orr, S Schoenfelder, ...(2014) Genome research 24 (11), 1854-1868 |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Collaboration with Olivia Fletcher et al |
| Organisation | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed capture Hi-C with collaborators |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed capture Hi-C and data analyses. |
| Impact | Capture Hi-C identifies the chromatin interactome of colorectal cancer risk loci R Jäger, G Migliorini, M Henrion, R Kandaswamy, HE Speedy, A Heindl, ...(2015) Nature communications 6, Article number: 6178 Unbiased analysis of potential targets of breast cancer susceptibility loci by Capture Hi-C NH Dryden, LR Broome, F Dudbridge, N Johnson, N Orr, S Schoenfelder, ...(2014) Genome research 24 (11), 1854-1868 |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Manchester RA collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed Capture Hi-C with collaborators |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed Capture Hi-C and other experiments and analyses |
| Impact | Capture Hi-C reveals novel candidate genes and complex long-range interactions with related autoimmune risk loci (2015) Paul Martin, Amanda McGovern, Gisela Orozco, Kate Duffus, Annie Yarwood, Stefan Schoenfelder, Nicholas J Cooper, Anne Barton, Chris Wallace, Peter Fraser, Jane Worthington, Steve Eyre. Nature Communications 6, Article number: 10069 |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Manchester RA collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | MRC Biostatistics Unit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed Capture Hi-C with collaborators |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed Capture Hi-C and other experiments and analyses |
| Impact | Capture Hi-C reveals novel candidate genes and complex long-range interactions with related autoimmune risk loci (2015) Paul Martin, Amanda McGovern, Gisela Orozco, Kate Duffus, Annie Yarwood, Stefan Schoenfelder, Nicholas J Cooper, Anne Barton, Chris Wallace, Peter Fraser, Jane Worthington, Steve Eyre. Nature Communications 6, Article number: 10069 |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | Manchester RA collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Performed Capture Hi-C with collaborators |
| Collaborator Contribution | Performed Capture Hi-C and other experiments and analyses |
| Impact | Capture Hi-C reveals novel candidate genes and complex long-range interactions with related autoimmune risk loci (2015) Paul Martin, Amanda McGovern, Gisela Orozco, Kate Duffus, Annie Yarwood, Stefan Schoenfelder, Nicholas J Cooper, Anne Barton, Chris Wallace, Peter Fraser, Jane Worthington, Steve Eyre. Nature Communications 6, Article number: 10069 |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | PCHiC with Osborne |
| Organisation | Babraham Institute |
| Department | Nuclear Dynamics ESP |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We performed promoter capture Hi-C with the collaborating lab and shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | performed promoter capture Hi-C with the collaborating lab and shared in analysis and interpretation. |
| Impact | Mapping long-range promoter contacts in human cells with high-resolution capture Hi-C B Mifsud, F Tavares-Cadete, AN Young, R Sugar, S Schoenfelder, et al., Nature genetics 47 (6), 598-606 |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Title | METHOD OF IDENTIFYING VDJ RECOMBINATION PRODUCTS |
| Description | A high-throughput, high resolution DNA-based next generation sequencing assay to interrogate the sequences of VDJ recombined gene products resulting from antigen receptor recombination. Patent licence granted in USA and Europe in 2017. Licence application pending in Japan. Undertaking active marketing, no commercial licensee finalised as yet. |
| IP Reference | EP2820153 |
| Protection | Patent granted |
| Year Protection Granted | 2015 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | Collaborations with academic, clinical and commercial interests, resulting in 3 grant applications, one of which was successful |
| Description | 'Making your mark' epigenetics exhibition |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An epigenetics exhibit was designed and produced to explain the role of histone modifications in epigenetic regulation of gene expression. It was displayed at the Hills Road Sixth Form College Cambridge Big Biology Day October 2017, which resulted in positive feedback and a plan to exhibit this at the Cambridge science festival in 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | B lymphocyte development lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 60 Cambridge University undergraduate medical, veterinary and natural science students attended the lecture on B lymphocyte development, which sparked many questions afterwards. Supervision sessions were also conducted on the topic, essays assessed, and exam questions submitted. Numerous students asked for tutorials on the lecture, emailed queries about the topic, wrote essays, and the majority of students attempted the question on this topic when it came up in the exam. The lecture was rated by the students as 'excellent'. Several requests were made to do a summer project in our lab. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017 |
| Description | Babraham Institute Annual Schools Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | As part of Annual Schools Day, 12 GCSE and A level students spent a day in our lab, doing a small project. Many asked questions about our research and careers in biology. Positive feedback relayed after the visit by teachers. The feedback afterwards from the students was that biological research was more interesting and scientists more normal than the students expected. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 |
| Description | British Science Week Careers talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | As part of British Science week in March, Dr Corcoran and two PhD students gave an online presentation about our research and our career paths to four classes of 30 year 10 Biology students at a local school in Cambridge. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Cambridge Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We developed exhibits that explained epigenetics, the immune system and how ageing affects this, and key displays of the research the Institute does. We provided take-home resources and quizzes and received very positive feedback. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014,2015 |
| Description | Cambridge Science Festival 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Participated in Cambridge Science Festival evening. Answered questions and engaged in general discussion about our science with general public at the Babraham stand. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/about/past-festivals/2015-cambridge-science-festival |
| Description | FindaPhD.com YouTube |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Made a short video for FindaPhD.com as part of a series of inspirational interviews with senior group leaders about their own PhDs. FindaPhD launched this on International Women's Day as a YouTube video, and on their website, Twitter, Facebook. Dozens of positive comments on Twitter and Facebook worldwide within 24 hours, as well as personal requests for advice about PhDs |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://youtu.be/PDu5y4s8hGQ |
| Description | ImmuneArmy YouTube video |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We made a video called Immune Army which details in cartoon format the various soldiers in the immune army and how research at Babraham contributes to our understanding of the immune system and how it ages. This formed part of the Immune Army website, which also contains other resources that we created for schools and the general public, including a jigsaw and an iPAD game for understanding immunoglobulin V(D)J recombination |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://immunearmy.babraham.ac.uk |
| Description | Mosaic magazine article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Article by Tom Chivers "How Big Data is Changing Science" including interviews with me and other genomics scientists, giving our perspectives on the explosion of big data science in recent year and the opportunities and challenges this brings. The aim was to illustrate the rapidly changing skill sets needed to understand big data, which senior scientists have not learned and need to keep up with. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008,2016,2018 |
| Description | Primary School visits |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | Workshop Facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Visits were made to a local school. 60 Year 4 to 6 primary school children attended presentations and hands-on practical related to our science. The teachers reported an increase in understanding and interest in biological research and what real scientists do. We are frequently requested to visit. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016 |
| Description | Royal Society exhibit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The exhibit was called the Immune Army, and showcased a variety of studies that Babraham researchers are carrying out to understand a variety of cell types in the immune system, how they work together to fight infection, and how this ability to fight infection is impaired as we age. We explained that our aim was ultimately to find ways to help people to age more healthily. The exhibit sparked many questions about the ageing process and how the public can slow down loss of immune function. It prompted a visit by James Gallagher, Health Editor for the BBC, to see what science Babraham is doing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | STEM teachers visit to lab |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Three secondary school teachers spent the day in the lab, performing experiments, hearing about our research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Schools Day 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 10 pupils visited my lab for morning or afternoon of hands on experiments. Lots of questions and discussions and pupils had a chance to meet real scientists. School reported increased interest in subject area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | Pre-2006,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016 |
| Description | Schools day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | School children were engaged in science Members of the group reported back that the project was excellent and that it had made them very interested in research biology |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2011,2012,2014 |
| Description | Science Museum Lates |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We brought the CROMOS project (see Artwork) to Science Museum Lates in Sep 2017, which was one of the most popular exhibits at the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/events/1125793267522307/ |
| Description | TV press release for Nature Genetics paper |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interview with Cambridge TV relating to Nature Genetics paper release |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.cambridge-tv.co.uk/Stem-Cells/ |
| Description | Teachers visit to the Lab |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 2 Teachers applied to visit the lab for a day. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | The Role of polycomb repressive complex in nuclear organisation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talked which was followed by questions NA |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Visit to the lab by a 6th form student who won the winner of the RCUK Best Use of Research prize http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/media/news/150317/ |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Maria visited the lab for a morning and performed a number of experiments in the lab |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | You Tube video on Nature Genetics paper |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A video explaining our recent publication |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JOcGUMbipI |
| Description | media interest |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Publication of paper in Frontiers in Immunology and press release resulted in 3 news articles - in Medindia, Labonline (Australia), Health Canal |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | visit to special needs school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Gave a talk to a class of children with learning difficulties on the fun aspects of science After my talk the children were engaged in science activities more. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |