Science on Screen – Film as a Method of Research Dissemination and Collaborative Production – An Overview & Panel Discussion

This session was organised by CÚRAM, the SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices and Galway Film Centre.

Film trailers to feature:

Bittersweet. The film captures the health system’s fight to treat the rising number of diabetic patients and warns against this troubling epidemic facing our population. It follows the personal stories of young people who are living with diabetes and their daily struggle to manage it. It captures the important work of CÚRAM’s Prof David Brayden and his team at UCD’s School of Veterinary Medicine, where they are developing new ways of delivering insulin to the body.

A Tiny Spark focuses on three stroke survivors, Rebecca, Trevor and Helen, who talk about life after a stroke and their individual roads to recovery. It also looks at research which is being led by NUI Galway neuroscientist Dr Karen Doyle. It is the first study of its kind in the world, and is an international collaborative study between NUI Galway, hospital partners in Beaumont Hospital and throughout Europe, and the Mayo Clinic in the US. The research is carried out in partnership with Cerenovus.

The Patient Effect tells the story of public and patient involvement in research – how tapping into the lived experience of patients, their families and carers, has the potential to hugely enhance the quality and relevance of health and medical research. Directed by Mia Mullarkey, this Irish documentary follows three personal stories, which reflect the power of including public and patient voices in planning and conducting research

Mood Atlas describes the experiences of Shane Hickey, who is living with Bipolar Disorder, and the research that is underway in the Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory at NUI Galway to map Shane’s brain and emotions, to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this condition. Mood Atlas was funded by the Irish Health Research Board, through a Knowledge Exchange and Dissemination Grant, awarded to the former Director of the Galway Neuroscience Centre, Dr Dara Cannon.

Challenges, benefits and impact of using film to engage public audiences with STEM research was discussed by the following panel:

Panel Members:

• Professor David Brayden (Bittersweet) is the Professor of Drug Delivery at the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine and a Fellow of the UCD Conway Institute in University College Dublin.
• Dr Karen Doyle (A Tiny Spark) is a Senior Lecturer in Physiology and Principal Investigator at CÚRAM.
• Professor Sean Dinneen (The Patient Effect) is a Consultant Endocrinologist at Galway University Hospital, Professor of Diabetic Medicine at NUI Galway and the leader of the PPI Ignite @ NUI Galway programe.
• Dr. Dara Cannon (Mood Atlas). Dr Cannon’s research focuses on the biological underpinnings of psychiatric diseases such as mood and anxiety disorders.