{"id":1577,"date":"2023-02-02T09:27:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T09:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/perc\/?p=1577"},"modified":"2023-03-16T11:08:58","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T11:08:58","slug":"a-great-day-on-great-exhibition-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/perc\/2023\/02\/02\/a-great-day-on-great-exhibition-road\/","title":{"rendered":"A great day on Great Exhibition Road!"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 9 of 11 in the series People's Research Cafe at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2022<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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This blog is part of a series showcasing the People\u2019s Research Cafe which took place on the 18th and 19th June 2022 in South Kensington, London as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

What is a People\u2019s Research Caf\u00e9?\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The People\u2019s Research Cafe is a caf\u00e9 with a twist. Visitors are welcomed to sit down at a table co-hosted by an Imperial College researcher and a public contributor whose role is to help the conversation flow freely. Over a free hot drink, visitors find out about the researcher\u2019s project and will be asked for their opinions on it. The researchers are then expected to use this feedback from visitors to improve their projects. The People\u2019s Research Caf\u00e9 has been run previously at two Imperial Festivals (2018 and 2019) and also in four community venues. It was previously called the \u201cPPI Caf\u00e9\u201d and you can read about the one at the Imperial Festival 2018\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When did this People\u2019s Research Caf\u00e9 take place?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A\u00a0People\u2019s Research Caf\u00e9 was hosted at the Great Exhibition Road Festival held on 18 and 19 June 2022<\/a> and was a collaboration between the following teams\/centres: Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, Imperial Clinical Research Facility, London In-Vitro Diagnostics Cooperative, North West London Applied Research Collaboration, MRC Centre for Environmental and Health, HPRU in Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance. Researchers from each centre were given the opportunity to apply to host a table at the Caf\u00e9 for 2 hours where they would explain their research in plain language and ask visitors 3 questions with the help of a public contributor. It was a requirement that the research project was at a stage where visitor feedback could still influence the project. Researchers and public contributors were offered training about how the Caf\u00e9 would work and how to maximise conversations with visitors. Ahead of the Caf\u00e9, researchers refined their plain language summaries and three questions to pose to visitors with the help of public involvement leads and a public contributor.<\/p>\n

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In conversation with<\/strong>: Naoko Jones, Programme Manager, NIHR London In Vitro Diagnostics Co-operative<\/a>, Department of Surgery & Cancer<\/a><\/p>\n

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What research project did you bring to the People\u2019s Research Caf\u00e9 and what is it about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A new ultrasound scan for detecting breast cancer that has spread to armpit lymph nodes<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Invasive breast cancer (breast cancers that have spread out of the milk ducts into surrounding breast tissue) affects 46,000 women every year in the UK. Lymph nodes are small bean-shaped structures that are part of the body’s immune system. They are found all over the body along the course of tissue fluid channels. Breast cancer can spread to the lymph nodes in the armpit (on the same side as the breast cancer).<\/p>\n

Currently, the best way to find whether lymph nodes have cancerous deposits is to remove them by surgery to be looked at by a pathologist under the microscope. Most armpit surgery involves the removal of the first lymph nodes to receive tissue fluid from the breast and these are called sentinel lymph nodes. If the sentinel lymph nodes are clear of cancer, the rest of the armpit lymph nodes are also likely to be cancer free. Sentinel lymph node removal can cause infections (1 in 10 people) and long-term arm swelling (1 in 20 people). As less than 1\/3 of patients have cancer deposits (metastases) in lymph nodes, about 32,500 patients in the UK have unnecessary surgery every year costing the NHS around \u00a326 million.<\/p>\n

The aim of this research is to develop a new ultrasound test (a procedure that uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of part of the inside of the body like that used to check babies are growing in the womb) to replace armpit surgery. The idea came from front-line clinical staff and patients living with problems caused by armpit surgery. New cutting-edge technology has been developed by engineers at Imperial College and builds on existing ultrasound tests that are already in use in some NHS trusts.<\/p>\n

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What questions did you ask visitors to the People\u2019s Research Caf\u00e9 about your project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The questions I asked visitors are as follows:<\/p>\n