James Brown, Biochemical Society
We are pleased to announce the winners of our Science Communication Competition. Now in its eighth year, the competition attracted entries from all over the world which were reviewed by our panel of expert judges. The competition asks entrants to create an engaging, creative article or video explaining biomolecular topics to the general public. More information about the competition can be found on our website.
The first prize entries to the competition will be published on the Society’s website and in the August issue of The Biochemist. The second prize winners will be published in the October and the third prize winners in the December issue.
Dr Suze Kundu, one of the judges on the competition, said, “Being involved in this competition was a real treat! Not only have I learned a lot about how much biochemistry impacts on our day-to-day lives, I have also been inspired by the amazing ways that these competitors have chosen to communicate these ideas. Communicating science should be a fundamental part of the scientific process, and it is great to see that this is definitely in good hands for the future.”
The winners are: –
Written entries
1st – Victoria Bolton “Toxo and Jerry – About cats, mice and behaviour-changing parasites”
2nd – Jenna Hebert “A life without microbes: How “germ-free” research is revealing the necessity of bacteria for our brains.”
3rd – Corina Lagewaard “Forensic DNA Phenotyping: The Geneticists Guide to Solving Murder Mysteries”
When notified of her win, Victoria said, “Science communication is a growing and very important field in modern-day science. I believe that making science approachable and engaging is a central piece of being a researcher. I would like to express my gratitude to the Biochemical Society, as well as Dr. Tansy Hammarton at the University of Glasgow for acknowledging this and encouraging young scientists like me to engage in science communication.”
Jenna had the following thoughts, “Winning a prize was such a pleasant surprise! I’ve always been inspired by the way good writers can turn complex topics into stories that anyone would find delightful to read. Sometimes, the lab can be a grind. Writing about science in a light and even humorous way, in pieces like this and in my blog, has been a great reminder of its whimsy and wonder.”
Corina had this to add, “It has been my experience that science isn’t quick to flatter its-self. I think that the goal of science communication is not to make the uninteresting interesting, but to give the efforts of science some of the celebration that it deserves. Thanks Biochemical Society for this opportunity!”
Video entries
1st – Jirayu Tanprasertsuk – “Eating for your eyes”
2nd – Ellie Staniforth – “The inheritance of Leigh’s disease”
3rd – Julia Schulz –“The Blood-Brain Barrier – Protecting the Body’s Control Center”
Video category winner Jirayu said, “There are so many great scientific discoveries and stories that remain unknown to the public. I am very excited that my very first story on an impact of nutrition on eye health is appreciated by others. I cannot wait to tell more!”
Ellie had this to say, ‘It’s amazing to have won 2nd place in the Biochemical video competition. The video was a lot of fun to make and I really enjoyed making it. Thanks to Aigars Reiters for helping with the filming and editing, it wouldn’t have been created without you! Mitochondrial disease is really interesting and it was fun to be able to make a video explaining the inheritance pattern to a non scientific audience’
Third place video winner, Julia said, “As
pharmacists, our job is to help people improve their health. However, often we do not have the answers, yet. This urged me to become a scientist. The blood-brain barrier affects everybody’s daily life. However, not many people know what it is and how it works. I think it is important to raise awareness about this important bodily function and how it affects the treatment of neurological diseases. Understanding how your body works is the first step to improving your health and understanding the care that you receive. Winning this award shows me that I am on a steady path to becoming a better science communicator. I am very thrilled about the next steps that lie ahead!”
Congratulations to all the winners!
The full shortlist of entries that made it through to the final judging round can be seen below:
| Name | Title | Affiliation |
| Antonia Syrnioti | Memories- unravelling our brain’s darkest secrets | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki |
| Chris Smith | How to Reduce Scar Formation, what can we learn from the Gingiva? | Queen Marys University London |
| Chris Proctor | Shut Up! Why Stopping Bacterial Talk is Good for Your Health. | University of Ulster |
| Corina Lagewaard | Forensic DNA Phenotyping: The Geneticists’ Guide to Solving Murder Mysteries | University of Tasmania (UTAS) |
| Jack Hardwick | The expanding alphabet of our genome | University of Oxford |
| Jenna Hebert | A life without microbes: How “germ-free” research is revealing the necessity of bacteria for our brains. | University of Oxford |
| Jiska van der Reest | Fighting Cancer with Food – Fad Diet or Fake News? | University of Glasgow |
| Kellie Harkin | Prions: Why brain eating might be as bad for you as it sounds | Oxford |
| Lewis Macdonald | DNA – No Longer A Read-Only File? | University of Edinburgh |
| Pedro Ferreira | Into the woods | Imperial College London |
| Raniel Ponteras | Biochemical Biomimicry: Learning from the Best | University of St. La Salle |
| Victoria Bolton | Toxo and Jerry | University of Glasgow |
| Ellie Staniforth | Video – The inheritance of Leigh’s disease | University of Glasgow |
| Jirayu Tanprasertsuk | Video – Eating for your eyes | Tufts Univeristy |
| Julia Schulz | Video – The Blood-Brain Barrier – Protecting the body’s control center | University of Kentucky |
| Kan Ming Tse | Video – Gene Therapy: Fixing your broken cells | University of York |
| Padmika Wadanambi | Video – Apoptosis | Bangalore University |
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