On Sunday, 18 December, an outreach event “Coffee with Scientists and Medical Doctors” organised by Dr Muhammad Awais and his colleagues from the Liverpool Pancreatitis Research Group, took place at the multicultural community centre PAL in Liverpool L8.
The event was very well attended by the community, with more than 50 people of varying ages, listening to interactive talks on pancreatic diseases, pancreatitis and diabetes, by university researchers and local GPs. In addition, an introduction and request was made to recruit volunteers to a new international study related to biomarkers of acute pancreatitis, a part of the TransBioline project.
A STEM ambassador from an international organization encouraged young people to study STEM subjects and attend such outreach and informative events within the community.
All attendees were keen to learn and participated enthusiastically in discussions during and after the talks. Excellent feedback was received from the event and Dr Awais and his colleagues will organise more outreach events in 2023 targeting hard-to-reach communities in Liverpool.
Dr Awais is a recipient of the Wellcome Trust Public Engagement and Involvement Grant Scheme 2022 by the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.