Engaging the public in the scientific dialogue related to the issues around environment and health is vital to maximising the impact of our research beyond the realms of policy and academia. The Centre supports its researchers in a range of public engagement activities and also organises several Centre-wide events that showcase our research as a whole.

Some of our latest public engagement activities can be found below, but check our News tab to find out more.

This year at the Great Exhibition Road Festival (GERF), our researchers from the MRC Centre for Environment and Health and the NIHR HPRUs in Environmental Exposures and Health and in Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards engaged with GERF visitors in interactive ways to raise awareness about environmental pollutants, showcase their new research and the techniques they use to make new discoveries.

We had the WellHome Study Team raising awareness about indoor air pollution while the SCAMP Team encouraged visitors, old and young, to check their screen time and feed into live data collection during the festival. We also had an interactive exhibit to demonstrate how we evaluate biological age and how these assessments can be used for health research. Our colleagues from the MRC Toxicology Unit’s use a pipetting demonstration to explain to visitors the process that toxicologists use to make new discoveries in the lab. Some of our MRC researchers also partnered with illustrator & printmaker Lucille Clerc on a public artwork highlighting the impact of air pollution on the lungs and exploring actions that could be taken to reduce exposures.

2023 marks the 30th anniversary of an extremely successful Environmental Research Group (ERG). In partnership with the Imperial Policy Forum, this provides a unique opportunity for us to:

• Showcase some of the major achievements that have been made in the area of air pollution research over the past 30 years
• Highlight how climate change influences air/water quality and health
• Look to our future as we discuss some of the challenges and potential opportunities for ERG and Imperial College and colleagues from the wider Environment and Health community to have impact in this arena.

Two of the key initiatives planned for 2023 are a Two-day symposium on 6th & 7th June and a Seminar Series of six afternoon seminars. The overarching theme for these events is 'Environment and Health Challenges in a Changing World'.

On Monday 20 March 2023, colleagues from the School of Public Health, the MRC Centre in Environment and Health and the Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, along with schools from across London, gathered to celebrate the achievements of the Research Challenge pupils who contributed to the latest phase of the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP).

Founded in 2014 with contributions from over 30 researchers across six universities, SCAMP has entered a fourth wave entitled the ‘Research Challenge’ which has given sixth form pupils the opportunity to lead the research in their respective schools. The 80 Research Challenge pupils have been providing fresh insights into how their peers interact with mobile phones and have collected cognitive data and biosamples from over 1,000 of their peers.

The initiative – having now awarded 40 sensors to 40 community groups since 2021– empowers communities across London living in areas impacted by poor air quality and with limited green spaces to track their exposure to harmful pollution and raise awareness of the importance of clean air. Poor air quality has been shown to have many health impacts including increased risk of dementia, lung cancer and low birth weight. It can also stunt children’s lungs and worsen chronic illnesses such as asthma.