Activities

The Open Day held at University College Hospital London attracted hundreds of visitors from the local community, patient groups and schools. With over 40 interactive displays, researchers from the Farr Institute joined other clinicians and scientists to demonstrate how our research is changing patient care. We used interactive “data visualisations” to show the public what kind of data from GPs and hospitals we use in our research, what data look like to researchers, and how researchers are using the data. We also demonstrated an interactive risk calculator for clinicians to guide treatment decisions for patients with coronary disease. Read more about this successful annual event here.

434 delegates from across the world were in attendance at the conference, where we ran an exciting series of events including:

• A keynote lecture “Involvement from Start to Finish” was delivered by Anne McKenzie, who leads and manages the joint Consumer and Community Participation Program at the School of Population Health and Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia. Anne’s lecture can be viewed here.
• A workshop (“Great expectations: researchers and the public working together”) delivered by members of the four Farr UK patient and public engagement Groups to researchers outlined ideas for joint public engagement working across Farr UK and for joint working with researchers.

• Farr Summer School students were introduced to key concepts of data visualisation for presenting research results to a general audience and how to conduct effective patient and public involvement through talks and structured discussions with lay members of the public.

  
• Practical, interactive and hands on teaching sessions were delivered by researchers to schoolchildren aged 16-18 years from two local schools on big data science and data analysis. The sessions were designed to inspire and encourage the young students and get them involved in some of the basic concepts researchers face when using data.

• Throat (ENT), Hearing and Balance care, uniquely shaped by the views of patients, carers, healthcare professionals, researchers and other stakeholders. In September 2015, key groups including members of the public got together at the GENERATE consensus conference in London to formulate a strategy for cross-collaborative, high-value research in ENT hearing and balance.

• Cancer Frontiers Meeting: Using UK Cancer Data for Maximum Research Impact and Patient Benefit There is an enormous potential for work on cancer health informatics within the UK. The rich and extensive datasets that exist on cancer patients (in both health service and research settings) make this an exciting area for expansion with the prospect of developing world class research programmes. In December 2015, patients and lay members of the public will be brought together with experts within the cancer research and clinical communities in the UK to outline the potential of such datasets and how the Farr Institute can add value to the future research effort in this field.