The University of Sheffield’s world-leading centre for neuroscience research is holding an open day for the public on Saturday 19 October 2019.
Members of the public will be able to visit the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) to find out about the latest research and breakthroughs in the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Parkinson’s and Motor Neurone Disease (MND).
The free annual open event will run from 11am until 2pm and gives the general public, patients and their families the chance to hear directly from academics about their work, as well as the opportunity to tour the SITraN laboratories.
Professor of Translational Neurology Chris McDermott, Head of the Neuroscience Department at the University of Sheffield and Consultant Neurologist at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust, said: “We will be holding a series of talks on the progress of our research, the development of new treatments, how we support people living with diseases such as MND and the clinical trials we are currently running.
“We also want to show the next generation of young scientists the exciting research taking place right here in Sheffield, so children are welcome to the event. They’ll be able to go into our labs, get hands on, and be involved in experiments demonstrating how our researchers extract DNA, how mitochondria work and the chance to find out about the anatomy of a brain.
“Our patients tell us how much they appreciate learning about what amazing research is happening, so we feel a responsibility to open our doors and invite the public into our institute’.
SITraN is one of the world’s leading neuroscience research centres working to improve the lives of patients and their families worldwide by accelerating the pace of laboratory research, drug development and clinical trials essential in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases.
The research at SITraN forms part of the work of the University of Sheffield’s recently established Neuroscience Institute, that brings together leading experts in medicine, science and engineering to translate scientific discoveries from the lab into pioneering treatments that will benefit patients.
Professor Dame Pam Shaw, Director of SITraN and the cross-faculty Neuroscience Institute, said: “The open day is an event that we very much look forward to every year, as it is a great opportunity for our teams to explain their recent research progress to patients, their families and friends and interested members of the public.
“Our goal is to understand the causes of, and develop treatments for some of the most devastating neurodegenerative diseases and our patients are at the centre of everything we do. They often volunteer their time to be part of clinical studies and trials and help us identify what our research priorities should be.
“It is a pleasure for us to host this event for those who contribute so strongly to our research programmes in many different ways and it is inspiring for our scientists to meet people with the medical conditions to which our work is devoted.”
