The IMSR is thrilled to announce that the Society for Endocrinology has awarded a £1000 grant to Dr Punith Kempegowda for public engagement. Punith is a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow and an honorary Specialist Registrar in Endocrinology, Diabetes and General Medicine, based in the IMSR. He has a passion for medical education and more recently he has become increasingly involved in medical education and public engagement through his work on DAISy-PCOS, SIMBA and CoMICs.
As part of the SfE award, Punith will work together with IMSR’s Community & Public Engagement Manager, Dr Caroline Gillett, to develop a range of age-appropriate activities for school children. These will be delivered at our first – online – We Are IMSR Community Day in 2021. This event will be open to all IMSR researchers to take part and will be coordinated with support from a new Community Acion Team, currently under development (read more / still time to apply: here).
The SfE grant will specifically support engagement with new hormone research that is taking place within the IMSR, including Punith’s own work on the role of ‘male’ hormones (androgens) in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Other endocrine researchers will also take part to share their work on the influence of hormones in diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome management and more.
Activities will include interactive sessions to encourage research thinking, problem-solving and collaboration. Children will also have the opportunity to meet with diverse science role models to learn about the range of careers endocrinology offers. We will also learn from them of course – about what endocrinology means to them and what they see as priorities for the future in this exciting field.
We’ll post updates about the project on our blog, so come back to read these in future!
So, a big thank you to Society for Endocrinology and big congratulations to Punith!
Here’s what Punith had to say about the good news:
“I am deeply grateful to the Society for Endocrinology for providing the public engagement grant. This will help me to further develop my passion in education and public engagement and increase the awareness of the common endocrine conditions in the general public. I will also use this opportunity to teach and learn from our future generation, for if we sow your seed right, we can reap a rich harvest in the coming years.”
IMSR is very grateful to the Society for Endocrinology for their generous support of this project. We also thank them for being a key ally in IMSR’s mission to engage diverse ‘next generation’ scientists (children) with the fascinating and enduring discipline of endocrinology.
Society for Endocrinology: www.endocrinology.org