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Each year the World Health Organization (WHO) outlines the biggest threats to health faced by humanity. Recent years have been devastating for global health, with the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus causing the most severe global health emergency ever declared by WHO. Whilst the pandemic continues to take a toll on people across the globe, there are several other major challenges that threaten life as we know it. Tonight, scientists will discuss three major health challenges and how their research aims to tackle them.
Air Pollution and the Heart
Professor Holly Shiels
(Professor, The University of Manchester)
Air pollution is a complex mixture of particles and gases that are formed from the combustion of fossil fuels. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) phenanthrene is relatively abundant in polluted air and can access and accumulate in human tissue and cause cardiovascular disturbances. This talk will look at what air pollution is and how it might disrupt the electrical activity and pumping capacity of the heart.
Antibiotic Resistance: The Deadly Power of Evolution
Rowan Green
(PhD student, The University of Manchester )
What if routine surgery or even a small scratch could lead to fatality? Each time we develop a new antibiotic drug it’s only a matter of time until bacteria will evolve ways of resisting our attack. My research aims to slow the rate of genetic mutations in bacterial infections, stopping bacteria from evolving resistance during treatment. This talk will explore antibiotic resistance from the basics of DNA mutations to the clinical challenges it causes in patients.
Eat to Live or Live to Eat? The Neurobiology of Appetite
Dr Giuseppe D'Agostino
(Principal Investigator, The University of Manchester )
Surprisingly, it is the brain that rules our appetite. Key regions of the brain are responsible for receiving and processing meal information to maintain the equilibrium between hunger and fullness. To achieve this, specialized nerve cells are wired together in mind-boggling networks within our brain to control our eating habits and body weight. How do these networks normally function? What happen if something goes wrong? We will discuss our current understanding and future directions of this fascinating research area.
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