Recent Developments at LifeLab

By Professor Keith Godfrey and Dr Kath Woods-Townsend

LifeLab on the red carpet

LifeLab’s young stars lit up the sky at Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium for a glittering film premiere and awards ceremony that celebrated their achievements and saw the launch of the Young Researcher Training Programme. Hosted by radio star Zoe Hanson, the films premiered at the event were devised by young people to empower other young people to develop and conduct their own research projects. The event also launched the Vaping Resources Toolkit, a range of targeted resources cocreated with the Youth Panel to help schools and youth organisations tackle the issue of vaping and its possible health impacts. Watch the highlights reel here to see how much fun everyone had!

15,000^th student

In March we were thrilled to welcome our 15,000^th student to LifeLab from Bay House School and Sixth Form, Gosport. In addition to the students attending LifeLab at University Hospital Southampton, LifeLab has also provided continuing professional development for 682 teachers, trained 40 Youth Panellists, provided work experience for 757 students through its “Developing Talent” programme and engaged 3,235 primary school students through Early LifeLab – all thanks to the amazing LifeLab team!

Vaping resources

Our Youth panel last year wanted to look at the issue of Vaping. They developed questions for focus groups, then contributed to governmental ‘Calls for Evidence’, they co-created a series of resources for schools and featured in an ITV Meridian News story. We were asked to go to Parliament in June for ‘Sense about Science’s’ Evidence week to present our findings to MPs – but that is likely to be delayed by the dissolution of Parliament!

Widening Access to Medicine Taster Course and Virtual Work Experience

Widening access to medicine is a critical part of training the next generation of doctors. Earlier this spring, LifeLab ran its annual free of charge 4-day hybrid in person taster course with virtual work experience for 25 Year 12 students. It is designed to increase knowledge of the role of doctors and the training they undergo. This course provides opportunities to meet professionals and learn about their roles, develop interpersonal skills, practice clinical skills, increase awareness of the undergraduate medical student experience and support prospective students application to study Medicine.

Students experienced clinical skills teaching, interviews, taster lectures, admissions talks and virtual work experience with University Hospital Southampton. Dylan said: “It has given me an insight into the different possible careers and fortified my passion for surgery. The interviews showed how friendly and caring the staff and students are, which has evoked a desire within me to achieve the grades to attend this university. This has been an unforgettable experience, and I can’t put into words how grateful I am.” More information about the event, can be found at: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/schools-colleges/widening-access-to-medicine-residential.page

LifeLab Global Community of Practice

In January, we welcomed partners from across the world as part of the first meeting of the LifeLab Global Community of Practice to share our experiences in youth health education. It was our pleasure to welcome partners from Australia, Ghana, Nepal, Ireland and South Africa!

We are always to provide opportunities for Faculty researchers to engage with students! If you haven’t yet done it why not sign up today for Meet the Scientist Training (lifelab@soton.ac.uk) – you will be warmly welcomed!