Biology Hodgkin Society Annual Review 2021

It has been another very strong year for the Hodgkin Biology society, with some outstanding presentations being delivered by the pupils on a variety of Biological developments and topics. It started with Esme Siddell and Katharine Hammond presenting on the topic of Carcinization as an example of convergent evolution, followed up by Ella Fairbairn-Day talking about the psychology of olfaction and Abbie Boast sharing her knowledge and own personal experience of proton beam therapy. Kate Willis talked about the very relevant topic of ‘long Covid’ with Shahd Abdelrahman talking about the biological challenges of medicine in space! Emily Howard spoke about neurogenesis, whilst Carolina Romano gave a fascinating presentation on the behaviour of the Japanese puffer fish! There have also been guest speakers, including OG Archie Hoo who delivered a talk about his research on novel treatments for Covid-19 as well as sharing his experiences about university life, both before and after lockdown. Finally, to finish the year, superb presentations were given from both Lucy Matthes (about the biology of depression to promote mental health awareness) and Jasmin Taylor-Riches, who talked about Alzheimer’s and other conditions that can lead to dementia. All these talks have been planned and delivered by the pupils themselves and have really helped to boost both the knowledge and awareness of pupils in all areas of Biology and a huge thanks to all of those named for taking the considerable time to prepare and deliver a talk to their peers. The fact that these were also online meant audience numbers were larger than ever and several people were able to watch recordings later. Thanks also to everyone who has attended, another highly productive year is anticipated for Hodgkin’s in 2021-22.