Students and 200 visitors enjoy Millfield’s 27th Biology and Psychology Symposium

Millfield welcomed over 200 students from 11 visiting state and independent schools alike including Huish Sixth, Sherborne School for Girls and Wellington School as well as 200 of our A level students for our 27^th Annual Biology and Psychology Symposium. Over 20 key speakers were welcomed to hold lectures and workshops across a multitude of topics within Biology and Psychology. 

In Biology, Dr Cressida Lyon, Teaching Fellow at the University of Bath in the department of Biology and Biochemistry, spoke of ‘Cardiovascular disease, from bench to bedside’ discussing how atherosclerosis causes a variety of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke; the currently available treatments; and some novel approaches to treatment.

Associate Professor in Renal Cell Biology, University of Bristol Dr Gavin Welsh discussed developing new treatments for Nephrotic Syndrome. Nephrotic syndrome is one of the most common diseases of the glomerulus in children and adults, Gavin explained the major advances in our understaning of the pathogenesis of Nephrotic Syndrome and describe efforts to identify new treatments for this disease.

In Psychology, Professor Marcus Munafo talk ‘Free to choose? How companies shape our behaviour’ described the ways in which our choices may not be so free after all, especially the effect our workplace has on us. Marcus is a Professor of Biological Psychology.

Mr Stephen Robinson, HMP Service, Deputy Governor HMP Bristol, spoke of ‘Prison Life – Do liberal and humanitarian values exist in prisons?’ He explored whether liberal and humanitarian values exist in prisons and look to identify what might hinder or prohibit these leadership endeavours.

Workshop sessions were led throughout the day by leading professionals in their field and covered topics from writing a personal statement, relaxation techniques and projecting positivity to hands on dissection, meeting birds of prey and exploring how we actually see the world around us.

See all the photos from the day here.