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Join us for a very ‘Infectious’ evening! From the dark history of plague, to the future threat from antibiotic resistance, infectious diseases are a part of our lives and have shaped history. But what are these bugs? And how do we do battle with them? And what of the people they have already left in their wake? Professor Bill Paxton will be your host for the evening, and with some science poetry and a visit from some small but deadly disease carriers thrown in, you’re in for a non-stop evening of contagion and capers!
Bad Bugs and Battered Bladders
Dr Rachel Floyd
(Kidney Research UK Fellow)
Antibiotic resistance has been described as a ‘Global Ticking Time Bomb’ that threatens humanity if we don’t tackle the discovery void that prevents development of new antibiotics. Infections are all regulated by cryptic conversations between invading bacteria and the cells of the body. Without understanding these conversations, the search for new drug targets is almost impossible. Rachel will talk about antibiotic resistance, what we can do to stop it and how her research is cracking the code to unravel the enigma of host-pathogen crosstalk during urinary tract infections.
Plague: the Modern Face of an Ancient Threat
Beth Levick
(Research Assistant - Statistics)
The Black Death loomed over the world of our ancestors, causing death and devastation everywhere it touched. Our fascination with the disease continues over 600 years on, whilst the disease lies securely in the past. Or does it? Come on a journey to explore the biology of plague, from 14th century century London through wild animals right to the frontier of modern plague research. See how biology and mathematics come together to shed light on how a tiny living beast came to gain control of huge groups of humans and animals.
It’s just Brain Surgery…
Libby Van-Tonder
(Neurosurgical Research Registrar)
Whenever we cut ourselves we put ourselves at risk of infection. But what happens if it’s slightly more than a paper cut…. What happens during brain surgery?! Surgery can put patients at risk of infection, and meningitis, encephalitis, osteomyelitis and brain abscess can be the unintended result. Whilst there are tests to check for infections, they can take a long time to give results and they haven’t been improved on in decades of neurosurgery. Join brain surgeon Libby as she talks about her research into better and faster tests for infection after brain surgery.
Surviving by Science
Geoff Gill
(Emeritus Professor of International Medicine LSTM)
Meg Parkes
(Honorary Research Fellow LSTM)
Over 50,000 British servicemen became Far East Prisoners Of War (or FEPOW), and were subjected to years of neglect, malnutrition, disease and slave labour. Since the end of WWII, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) has been involved with FEPOW. Join researchers as they explore the little-known history of medical ingenuity and inventiveness in Far East captivity, including the manufacturing of yeast, the design and manufacture of artificial limbs, as well as the examining the post-war aftermath for these veterans, in particular the early identification of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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