Coffee and Biryani with scientists

Using the Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Grant, Dr Muhammad Awais and his colleagues from the Liverpool Pancreatitis Research Group organised two public engagement events, Coffee with Scientists and Medical Doctors in December 2022 at PAL Multicultural Community Centre, and Biryani with Scientists & Medical Doctors in June 2023 in the University of Liverpool.

 Dr Muhammad Awais, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology

The events focused on pancreas diseases, pancreatitis and diabetes. Pancreatitis, an inflammatory disorder of the pancreas, is increasing by ~3% per year in England. A severe form of acute pancreatitis could cause multi-organ failure, and currently there is no drug treatment available for this complex disease.

Diabetes affects the body from head to toe, with serious consequences on quality of life. In the UK alone, there are around 4.5 million people living with diabetes. BAME communities are at high risk of developing these diseases for several reasons including lack of awareness, socio-economic status, lifestyle and type of food intake with high calories and cholesterol.   

Both events were very well attended by BAME communities, with more than 100 people (combined) of varying ages in attendance, including sixth form students undertaking A-Levels. They listened to interactive and interesting talks by university researchers Professor Robert Sutton, Drs Muhammad Awais, Rishi Mukherjee, Arjun Kattakayam, Uazman Alam and local GPs Drs Rubina Aniq and Najib Ahmed.  

In addition, an interactive session, “Mental health challenges: Are our youth ready for higher education” was delivered by Dr Raheela Awais from the School of Life Sciences. Two young doctors from BAME communities, Drs Sana Aniq and Hania Aniq also shared experiences and challenges of their student life.

All attendees were keen to learn and participated enthusiastically in discussions during and after the talks.   

Dr Awais and his colleagues will organise more outreach events targeting hard-to-reach communities in the Liverpool City Region. These activities aim to help in decreasing health inequalities for developing a happy and healthy Liverpool.