During the lockdown last spring, groups of Year 11s and 12s got together for an online Science Journal Club – discussing scientific research on a wide range of different topics from DNA structure to whether anyone can be a scientist.
With learning going back online in January, Dr Pannell started up the Journal Clubs again, with a Year 12 group, a Year 13 group and a new Year 11 group meeting regularly.
The groups have looked at topics including Alzheimer’s disease, misleading clinical claims and asking challenging questions like “What is Life?” – a debate that is not as simple as it first seems!
This week the Journal Clubs held a joint session over Teams with our Science Department Trainee Teacher, Miss Khaliq, who discussed the work she did for her Masters thesis at Salford University, where she was researching potential treatment targets for medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer that affects children.
Miss Khaliq not only talked about her research, but also why she chose to study pharmaceutical sciences, what her undergraduate degree and Masters in Drug Design and Discovery involved, and the variety of research that is possible in drug development. It was a fascinating talk and stimulated a lot of questions from the audience about the molecules identified as potential treatment targets, as well as how researchers can alter existing unrelated drugs for other purposes.
With our online learning coming to an end, the Journal Club is planning to continue hearing from guest speakers and, hopefully, getting together in person to discuss new topics.
