Report of Events

Charter Lecture - December 2009

The first Charter Lecture of the West Midlands Branch of the Society of Biology (2 December 2009), was delivered by Professor Peter Lambert, to a capacity audience of more than 300 people in the Haworth Lecture Theatre at the University of Birmingham.

The Society’s Chief Executive, Dr Mark Downs commenced the evening’s programme with a short introduction to the Society of Biology and Norma Broadbridge provided an overview of the Biology Challenge – a competition open to Y9/Y10 in England, S2/S3 in Scotland and Y10/Y11 in NI.  More information can be found on the website: www.biology-olympiad.org.uk

Following this introduction, Professor Peter Lambert presented some of the 2009 Biology Challenge Gold winners with prizes. One winner Rosalind Brown from Devonport High School for Girls, Plymouth, attended the presentation with her parents. Following the presentation, Society for General Microbiology ‘fuzzy bugs’, were thrown into the delighted audience.

Professor Peter Lambert, Professor of Microbiology at Aston University delivered an informative, inspiring and engaging lecture, entitled ‘Superbugs’, which covered aspects of healthcare-associated infections including those caused by MRSA, Clostridium difficile and other potential ‘superbugs’ and what is being done to control them in hospitals and the community.

There was time for questions from the enthused audience after the lecture and further information was available for teachers, including ‘The World of Microbiology’ – a Wellcome Trust funded publication for schools, produced by staff at Aston University.  A pdf copy can be obtained from the branch secretary: deborah.dixon@micdev.com

 Debbie Dixon, West Midlands Branch Secretary