Cambridge Infectious Diseases Public Lecture
Dr Ellen Nisbet discusses how saving the world's coral reefs is helping us cure malaria. Corals contain photosynthetic algae, dying when the algae are lost. And malaria parasites are really algae in disguise.

Dr Ellen Nisbet - Coral Reefs, Malaria And Drug Discovery

We humans have many obvious physical adaptations for effective movement – most notably the fact that we all tend to wander around on two legs. Less obvious, but every bit as important, is how our minds – particularly our desires – have been shaped through evolution by the need to move. Central to these mental adaptations is the brain’s ‘reward chemical’ dopamine. Dopamine is famous for making the runner’s high feel so good, but its role in encouraging and rewarding movement goes much deeper than that.

Drawing on the latest research, as well as traditional hunter-gatherer wisdom, zoologist Dr Matt Wilkinson will reveal all about these stimulating mental systems, and will give some tips about how to keep them working in our modern, civilised world.

Dr Matt Wilkinson - Joy Of Steps

The UK is embarking on a renewal of its generation of electricity by nuclear power and moving towards finding a permanent home for its accumulated radioactive waste. Since the last time the UK made decisions like this, much understanding has developed that could re-set our attitude to radiation and radiological risk. Ian & Gerry will demonstrate little appreciated aspects of radioactivity in the natural world and the outcomes of decades of study on the health effects of radiation.

Ian Farnan is Professor of Earth & Nuclear Materials in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge. His research involves the effect of radiation and water on materials used in radioactive waste disposal and nuclear power generation. He has led UK and European research consortia in this area and is currently Chair of Cambridge Nuclear Energy Centre.

Gerry Thomas is Professor of Molecular Pathology at Imperial College London and among many other things, Director of the Chernobyl Tissue Bank. Her research involves the molecular mechanisms involved in development of thyroid cancer, which is the only radiobiological consequence of the Chernobyl accident. Gerry believes passionately in the communication of the real health effects of power generation, and addressing our unconscious biases towards methods of electricity generation. She has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows all over the world talking about the health effects of the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents.

Ian Farnan & Gerry Thomas - Putting Radioactivity In Perspective

Cambridge Climate Lecture Series
In his 100th year, James Lovelock talks with Chris Rapley and Helen Czerski on the theme of Climate Change, Can We Fix It? Only three months after COP24 we hear if Lovelock, the father figure of our climate concerns, remains optimistic. Is Gaia alive? Will the Earth self-regulate whatever we do?

Dr Helen Czerski, Professor Tim Lenton and Professor Chris Rapley will hold a live discussion of the implications of the Gaia Hypothesis with recorded interviews with James.

Forty years ago James postulated that the Earth is a self-regulating system able to keep the climate and chemical composition comfortable for organisms. This was the Gaia Hypothesis, which as evidence and mathematical models accumulated has now become Gaia Theory.

Chris Rapley is Professor of Climate Science at UCL. Previous to this, Chris was the Director of the British Antarctic Survey (1998 to 2007) and Director of the Science Museum (2007-2010). In 2008 he was awarded the Edinburgh Science Medal – “For professional achievements judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding and well-being of humanity” Since January 2014 Chris is the Chair of European Space Agency Director General's High Level Science Policy Advisory Committee. Chris Rapley is amongst scientists to comment on the future state of the Earth System. The report warns of the potential of a ‘Hothouse Earth’, whereby self-reinforcing feedbacks could push the Earth System through a planetary threshold to a new state characterised by a combination of high global temperatures and rising sea levels unprecedented in the Holocene.

Dr Helen Czerski is a physicist, first and foremost, but she’s acquired a few other labels along the way: oceanographer, presenter, author and bubble enthusiast. Helen studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and continued her academic studies gaining a PhD in experimental explosives physics. After research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego and a post doc at the Graduate School of Oceanography in Rhode Island Helen returned to the UK to start her own research programme on the physics of oceanic bubbles, first at the University of Southampton and then at her current academic home, University College London. Helen gets particularly excited about the physics of the everyday world and the oceans and has presented documentaries on a wide range of subjects relating to physics in general, and also atmospheric and ocean science. She is passionate about conveying the beauty and ingenuity of the physical world around us, and the perspective on the world that science provides.

Professor Tim Lenton studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. Reading Jim Lovelock’s books on Gaia ignited his passion for studying the Earth as a whole system. This led to his PhD studies on what regulates nutrient balance of the ocean and the oxygen content of the atmosphere, supervised by Professor Andrew Watson at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and later the University of East Anglia (UEA). After gaining his PhD, Tim worked at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh. In 2004 he returned to UEA and built up an Earth system modeling group, working on key events in the coupled evolution of life and the planet, including human-induced global change. Tim moved to the University of Exeter in 2011, where he and his group are focusing on understanding these past revolutions, on developing an evolutionary model of the marine ecosystem, and on early warning of climate tipping points.

Climate Change: An Evening With James Lovelock

Understanding disease at the molecular level is key to the discovery of new targets that drive inflammation and autoimmune processes. What happens when the immune system hits the wrong target? It can unleash a torrent of disorders, including inflammatory diseases, cancer, and autoimmune disease. Understanding disease triggers may enable entirely new approaches to treating and potentially preventing disease. Come along and be enlightened by our panel of experts in the field.

Immunology: the future of medicine?

Research Horizons Public Talk
What does the future hold for Cambridge? How will its economy grow, and will our housing and transport infrastructure be able cope? Ying Jin talks about how we are able to model the city’s development, and Matthew Bullock and Gemma Burgess discuss why these predictions matter for balancing economic success and social equality.

Looking into Cambridge’s future

Imagine to be in front of a traffic light, you are about to cross and the green light starts to blink. Do you cross? Do you always stop, or does your choice depend on how late/early you are for an appointment? Does this depend on your age, the younger you are, the faster you can cross, or the more likely you are to take risks?

Right from brainless bugs such as bacteria and yeasts, to each of the three trillion cells making up our bodies, each cell continually takes critical decisions about proliferation, migrations, metabolisms and cell behaviour. However, once in a while, genetic mutations occur. Like typos that change the meaning of a sentence in a book, these errors change how cells decide leading to uncontrolled growth.

Although cells have mechanisms to correct these errors or to avoid the consequences that these errors may lead to, rarely, wrong decisions are made and perpetuated… and cancer is triggered. Dr Alessandro Esposito, MRC Cancer Unit, explores how the cell, a tiny droplet of water, takes decision to support life and how scientists probe the ‘brain of the cell’ to understand cellular decisions in physiological and pathological conditions.

Dr Alessandro Esposito - The cell: a living computer in a droplet of water

Through a series of short, interactive presentations, Astex Pharmaceuticals take you on a journey into their ‘molecular mix and match’ approach to the discovery of new medicines. Stick around after the talks to meet the scientists!

Astex Pharmaceuticals - Molecular mix and match: designing and making new medicines

You might have heard that scientists will soon be able to build quantum computers. But what exactly is a quantum computer? Is it just a super-fast version of a normal computer? What will it be good for? And most importantly, should you buy one? Mithuna Yoganathan provides the answers! Hint: don't put in your pre-order until you've seen this talk!

Mithuna Yoganathan - What will my quantum computer do for me?

It’s something that we all do, but no one talks about it: emptying your bowels. However, for many people with conditions that impair this most normal of bodily functions, it can impact your day-to-day life in unexpected and profoundly challenging ways. Scientists Dr Ewan St. John Smith and Dr James Hockley teamed up with DragonLight Films to produce a short film that explores how gut function goes wrong, the impact it has on peoples’ lives and how scientists and clinicians are working to better treat those affected. We seek to understand how gut function is disrupted and how pain occurs in conditions including Crohn’s disease (a form of inflammatory bowel disease, IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as well as being a natural consequence of ageing.
You can watch the film here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOiNI0qREsI

After watching the film Dr Dervila Glynn of Cambridge Neuroscience will moderate an open debate with a panel of experts to discuss themes arising from the film. The event is supported by Bowel and Cancer Research whose mission is to bring forward to a day when no one will die of bowel cancer or have to live with chronic bowel disease.

Come along and discover more about your amazing gut, a system as complex as your brain, how it controls things we take for granted and which no one usually likes to talk about!

Biographies:
Dr Ewan St. John Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow in Pharmacology at Corpus Christi College. Ewan’s research group is focused on determining how pain is caused in a wide variety of conditions.

Dr James Hockley is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge. James’ research examines the biological pathways responsible for how sensations, in particular pain, arise from our internal organs.

Colin Ramsay is an award-winning Cambridge based filmmaker, founder and managing director of DragonLight Films. In 2017, Colin won the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) “Best Research Film of the Year” for his documentary film Pain in the Machine.

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