Being curious about bowel cancer research

By Ariadni Aravani, Research Fellow

BCI UK's Be Curious stall

In March the University of Leeds hosted its third ‘Be Curious’ event with the theme ‘we are international’. Be Curious is a public open day that highlights the University’s research and its relevance to the local community. Many different disciplines took part, from Medieval History to Astronomy, with interactive demonstrations and fun activities.

Our stand had four activities, which explored how routine healthcare data can be used for bowel cancer research. Visitors enjoyed testing their knowledge of bowel anatomy and exploring relevant statistical concepts. For example, we used a large box of ping pong balls to explain random sampling. We engaged with people of all ages and I particularly enjoyed interacting with our child guests. It was great to see how the children single-mindedly concentrated on the activities!

I left the event feeling great; I had contributed to raising awareness about bowel cancer, our team’s research, and the importance of statistics. For more information about Be Curious visit the University of Leeds website.

Ariadni is a research fellow and her work focuses on the analysis of colorectal cancer data, typically from linked cancer registry and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data.