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Department of Medicine

Our researchers work with schools, colleges, patients, and the public to inspire a love for science, highlight the contribution and impact of our work on individuals and communities, and build long-lasting, trust-based relationships.

The University defines public engagement as the many ways in which we share expertise, knowledge gained, resources and collections to both inform and inspire those we interact with while soliciting public input and participation in our work when appropriate.

At the Department of Medicine, we are bridging the academic community with the public, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Supporting education

Widening access to postgraduate education

We run initiatives including the AIM PhD programme to support people from underrepresented groups to successfully apply for postgraduate research at Cambridge through mentoring and group information sessions.

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Experience Postgrad Life Science

We offer paid 8-week research internships, in partnership with Corpus Christi College, to penultimate year undergraduate students studying at a UK or Republic of Ireland university. Priority will be given to those from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups.

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Challenge Projects at CAST

We work closely with Year 12 students (aged 16-17) from the neighbouring Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology (CAST) on extended STEM based projects.

Inspiring curiosity

Cambridge Festival logo

Cambridge Festival

The Cambridge Festival is a mixture of on online, on-demand and in-person events covering all aspects of the world-leading research happening at Cambridge. Our scientists get involved each year, talking with members of the public and contributing with family-friendly hands-on activities and fascinating talks that relate to their research.
 
Our scientists will be hosting two talks at the Cambridge Festival 2025:
 

Big Biomedical Campus day at CAST

Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology (CAST) is a state-of-the-art Academy School dedicated to educating the next generation of Britain’s scientists, technicians, engineers and programmers.
 
Join us for a fun-day full of interactive family activities and workshops to explore everything from the College’s facilities to its innovative curriculum and the challenge labs.

Cambridge Big Biology Day

Organised by Cambridge Biologists, sponsored by AstraZeneca and run in partnership with the Cambridge Festival, Big Biology Day (BBD) is now the largest free-to-attend UK festival with a sole focus on the biological sciences.
 
Aimed at all ages, BBD is packed with hands-on activities that the entire family can enjoy, as well as allowing visitors to meet scientists from a wide range of biology and medicine backgrounds.

 

Christmas Market at JCBC and CRUK CI

The Christmas Market is part of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus’s Seasonal Festivities on campus. Each year, the holiday spirit comes to the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre and Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute with a Christmas Market full of festive cheer.

Researchers, local crafters, small businesses, and off-campus neighbours come together for seasonal delights, fun activities, and plenty of Christmas magic. The market is completely free and open to the public.

Connecting communities through public art

CITIID Scientific Image Competition

The competition is open to everyone from student interns, technicians to senior researchers. Above is the winner of the 2024 competition:
 
  • Jack A Smith, PhD Student, Matheson Lab: ‘TNTs or not TNTs? That is the question: Jack’s hunt for Tunnelling Nanotubes in HIV-1 infected primary human macrophages.’
 
Send your entry and a one line description to enter the 2025 round. One entry per round per person.

Public art programme at JCBC

The artwork at the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre is part of a series of engagement initiatives to bring new audiences into contact with our research. The public art installations sit on the ground floor of our building, where we house a 120-seat lecture room, a café and an exhibition space publicly accessible during normal opening hours.
 
Image credit: Corpus by Daziel + Scullion

The Green and The Gardens

Located to the west of Addenbrooke’s Hospital between the new Royal Papworth Hospital and Astrazeneca, The Green & The Gardens is a set of spaces for relaxation and calm, and to inspire thriving new relationships and ideas between current and future CBC organisations.

 

Anna Brownsted

Anna Brownsted works across a wide range of media including sound, installation, performance and participation. Her installation in our Ground Floor Exhibition Space responded to a project bringing together ambassadors for Blood Cancer UK and stem cell researchers working at the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre.

Victoria Morton

Victoria Morton’s paintings maintain a deliberate balance between controlled experiments with paint and careful manipulation that could be said to echo the working methods of many scientists. In September 2018 Victoria visited researchers at the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre to gain an insight into their research and working environment.

Harold Offeh

Harold Offeh’s work, A Pattern for Progress, brings together people living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and their carers, with scientists researching this neurological disease at the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre.

Lung Immune Challenge Study

Lung Immune Challenge Study

MRC-funded project at HLRI and Addenbrooke’s to understand differences in immune responses to viral infections in the lungs.

The T cell show

The T cell show

This animated talkshow explores how our immune system works supported by 15 volunteer voice actors and Wellcome Connecting Science.