The Future of Medicine

28 Jun 2010

Speakers: Dr Sonia Contera, Paul Fairchild, Baroness Susan Greenfield, Professor Bleddyn Jones, Michael Mosley

In this sold-out event at RIBA on 28th June, four speakers from the James Martin 21st Century School at Oxford University described how they are pushing forward the frontiers of medical science, seeking solutions to some of the critical medical problems of our age – in particular diseases associated with greater life expectancy.

Professor Bleddyn Jones proposes a new treatment for cancer which minimises the spread of radiation to healthy parts of the body, allowing patients a much greater chance of maintaining organ capacity, and allowing administration with significantly fewer doses and side effects.

Dr Sonia Contera discusses the use of nanotechnology to combat superbugs. The 21st century may be heading back to the pre-antibiotic era after the great mid twentieth century success in developing antibiotics was resisted by the rise of superbugs such as MRSA. The great hope for her is that nanotechnology will be a new, successful technique in tackling these resistant bacteria because it will allow scientists to fully understand the biology of bacteria.

Baroness Susan Greenfield delivers a talk on Neurodegeneration and the battle against Alzheimer’s. She outlines her two dreams for the treatment of the Alzheimer’s; firstly a surrogate marker for early detection, and second a “blocker” that will prevent further degeneration. Greenfield hopes that by combining these two goals we can halt the onset of the disease.

After the panel deliver their talks, they face a well-informed field of questions ranging from the debate in the scientific community as to what constitutes ‘being alive’ to the affect of mobile phones on your health.

Dr Sonia Contera

Director, Institute of Nanoscience for Medicine
Paul Fairchild

Director, The Oxford Stem Cell Institute
Baroness Susan Greenfield

Scientist, writer, broadcaster, and member of the House of Lords
Professor Bleddyn Jones

Professor of Clinical Radiation Biology, Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology
Michael Mosley

Chair: Journalist, television presenter and producer