BU Research Blog

To celebrate International Clinical Trials Day Helen Allen, Lisa Gale-Andrews, Louise Ward and Sharon Docherty from the BU Clinical Research Unit (BUCRU) were at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital yesterday to take part in their event hosted by the Research & Development department.

The BUCRU team

International Clinical Trials Day is celebrated on or near 20^th May each year, to commemorate James Lind’s famous scurvy trial. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of research in healthcare, and how involving the patients and public is essential in ensuring high-quality, relevant research. On International Clinical Trials Day, the National Institute for Health Research promotes its ‘OK to ask’ campaign to encourage patients to ask about clinical research.

Sharon explaining how we perceive vertical

It was a fun-packed day that highlighted some of the exciting research being done at, and in association with, the Trust. The Alzheimer’s Society, Stroke Association, Cancer Research UK, and BUCRU set up camp next to the lake to welcome members of the public and staff from the hospital. In addition to talking to staff members about how we can help them with their research, we highlighted how members of the public can get involved with research at all levels. Sharon got people involved by offering a simple task to show how different people perceive upright… things got a bit competitive!

We have a winner!

Helen Allen, Vanora Hundley and Yolanda Barrado-Martin also gave talks about BU research and how to get involved.

It was a lovely day, albeit a bit blustery by early afternoon which saw some of the other gazebos take flight. We managed to hang on (not without effort and thanks to the substantial gazebo borrowed from the BU public engagement team) at least until our visit from the Mayor of Bournemouth.

At least it didn’t rain…