Public Feedback
The Magnetic Resonance Centre is setting new standards for public understanding of science.
 Research volunteers are invited to evening feedback sessions after completion of projects to allow direct explanation of results of studies in which they have participated. This feedback of information is popular, both for volunteers who have a particular condition but also for normal subjects who have taken part as controls. We tap into the keen interest in understanding how the body works. We are able to inform as well as indicate the value of the research. The researchers themselves also benefit in learning just how the procedure was received by the participants.
All opportunities are taken to engage with newspapers and television to maximise the dissemination of new knowledge. Many news items have been carried by the local media in the last two years, and important advances have received national coverage. Examples this year include the Channel 4 Dispatches programme on well-being and ageing (relaying results from our studies on changes in metabolism brought about by physical activity in younger and older people) and the Inside Out programme (relaying our work on Alzheimer’s disease and the Charlie Crowe Appeal itself).
 The magnetic resonance physics group, headed by Professor Andrew Blamire, have devised a programme for local sixth form physics pupils. The topic is a module for A level physics, and it is possible to bring detail to life by demonstrating the practical application to study of the human body. The importance of attracting the brightest and best to a career in physics is very great for the UK, a small country with an outstanding record of practical physics innovation. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is a British invention.
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