Top prize for Teesside scientist at a nationwide competition

A Teesside University scientist took first place in a nationwide science initiative designed to enthuse young people about the many aspects of health and science.

I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here, funded by the STEM Ambassador Scheme, is an online science enrichment activity for school students in the UK.

It took place from 26 June to 21 July and involved 53 STEM Ambassadors who engaged with over 900 students. The students were able to talk to the STEM Ambassadors about a wide range of work, including genetic counselling, bioinformaticians, laboratory analytics, microbiology, and project engineering.

At the end of the scheme, students had to vote for their favourite scientist and the winner, receiving the most votes was Bruno Silvester Lopes, a Lecturer in Microbiology in Teesside University’s School of Health & Life Sciences.

Bruno’s area of expertise at I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here, was how bacteria becomes resistant to antibiotics and this was the second time he has scooped the top prize.

He said: “This was a fantastic event, and it was a great opportunity to engage young people about science and the impact it can have on our health. I am pleased that so many young people took part in Health Zone and am happy to receive such positive feedback.”