Science in Medicine School Teams Prize 2024

The National Heart and Lung Institute, the British Heart Foundation’s Centre of Research Excellence at Imperial College London offers the 4^th Annual "Science in Medicine School Teams Prize" to engage sixth form school students with science in medicine.

The aims are to encourage students to:

• stretch beyond the school curriculum, think outside the bubble of traditional biomedical fields, and learn about the excitement of research.
• consider how trends in science and engineering will impact on health and medicine in the future.
• understand the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and teamwork to effective research and development for improvements in public and individual health.
• forward think realistically by realising the importance of affordability, availability and acceptability in translating inventions towards a reduction in inequality-related poor health outcomes.
• appreciate the importance of effective communication in rolling out scientific developments, with an emphasis on art and design.

Any educational organisation in the UK with sixth form students may participate and collaborations within the UK or between a UK organisation and an equivalent organisation outside the UK are welcome. This year there are five separate team contests. Schools can have one team, or be part of one collaborating team, in each contest and may need to conduct an internal selection process. Each team should have no more six members and should be made up of members with varied interests to demonstrate a multidisciplinary approach. Examples of possible student scientific interests include biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, maths, computing, data science, social science, and economics. Judges will be looking for communication skills and a team member(s) with art or design interests is recommended.

For collaborations, a team might have three members at one UK school and three members at another UK school, or three members at one UK school and three members at a school outside the UK. However, the mix is flexible, and it does not have to be three and three. In the case of a UK-Overseas collaboration, the UK based organisation must lead and will receive and distribute any prize money.

Awards:

• Prizes for each contest are £3000 - 1^st, £2000 - 2^nd and £1000 - 3^rd and are intended for supporting science-related activities in the winning schools.
• Shortlisted teams will be offered the opportunity for online mentoring session with an academic.
• Prize-winners may be invited to submit blogs on their submissions.
• All team members will receive personal certificates of participation.
• Participation can help strengthen university or job applications and prepare for interviews.

The five contests are:

• The British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Prize. This year submissions can focus on any topic relevant to cardiovascular health. Suggestions include interfaces with other systems (e.g. nervous, immune, respiratory, and endocrine systems), nutrition, the application of artificial intelligence, and telemedicine. This prize is supported by the Cardiovascular Theme of the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and the British Heart Foundation’s Centre of Research Excellence at Imperial College London.
• The Lung Prize. Submissions can focus on any aspect of the prevention or treatment of respiratory disease. This prize is supported by the National Heart and Lung Institute and the Respiratory Theme of the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre.
• The Scleroderma and Raynaud’s UK Prize. Teams should provide a novel vision on how to promote the health and well-being of individuals with scleroderma. Possible topics to focus on include early diagnosis, disease monitoring, drug treatment and non-pharmacological measures. Teams may gain ideas from visiting the Scleroderma and Raynaud’s UK  website. This prize is supported by the Immunology Theme of the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and sponsored by Scleroderma and Raynaud’s UK.
• The Vasculitis UK prize. The challenge is to provide a novel vision of how science can improve the health and wellbeing of patients with vasculitis. The focus can be on a particular subtype of vasculitis or on vasculitis in general. There is no fixed topic, but suggestions include: helping earlier diagnosis; providing effective disease monitoring; reducing infections and/or improve patient response to vaccines whilst on drugs that suppress the immune system. Teams should research the disease using reliable sources. Help understanding the patient's perspective can be gained by visiting Vasculitis UK. This prize is supported by the Immunology Theme of the Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and sponsored by Vasculitis UK.
• The Global Health Prize - Teams are invited to submit a vision of how health science and technology can protect the health of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and / or refugees in the weeks and months following a major natural or human-made disaster.  Teams are advised to focus on a specific aspect of communicable or non-communicable disease relevant to the type of disaster chosen. Proposed solutions can be at the level of the individual or seek to address wider determinants (such as water, sanitation, and hygiene). Teams may benefit from viewing the websites of appropriate aid organisations for ideas. This prize is supported by the Imperial College School of Public Health.

Instructions:

• Teams should submit an ePoster demonstrating an innovative idea(s), a striking ePoster design and original illustrations.
• The poster should focus on a particular topic rather than the disease area in general.
• Teams can choose whether to address a local, national, or global issue.
• Teams are free to choose the design of the poster but are advised to describe clearly what problem is addressed, the anticipated innovation(s), and steps along the way to implementation.
• The judges will be looking for evidence that the vision considers affordability, availability, and acceptability in translating science and/or engineering towards improved health.
• Teams are advised to indicate how each member contributed to the poster so that teamwork can be scored.
• Students should be less than 19 years old at the start of the school year (September 2023)
• The poster should be pitched to communicate to non-experts, for example fellow sixth form students.
• The ePoster should be submitted in Landscape format as a pdf file via our Qualtrics portal – see below
• The size of the ePoster should be suitable for a print-out size as an A0 (not larger than 84 cm (height) and 118 cm (width))
• The online submission portal is below. Please submit two versions of the posters, one with and one without identification of the educational organisation.
• Submission must be done via a teacher based in a UK School.

Short-listing

• The submitted version without the identification of the educational organisation will be scored by the short-listing panel.
• Judges will evaluate each of the following domains:
  • Definition and importance of the problem
  • Scientific and technological approach
  • Novelty and vision
  • Feasibility
  • Insight into testing efficacy
  • Affordability and availability
  • Social acceptability
  • Poster design
  • Original illustrations
  • Evidence of teamwork
• The top scoring teams in each of the five contests will move on to the finals event.

Finals Event

• For each prize, the top scoring teams from the short-listing will be invited to present their posters at an online finals event, to be held in late September – early October.
• Short-listed teams will be asked to give a Power Point presentation lasting seven minutes, which will be followed by three minutes questions and answers. Judges will score the same domains as used for the short-listing.

Submission deadline Monday 1^st July, 5 pm.  For any queries, please email school-teams-prize@imperial.ac.uk

Prizes for 2023

BHF Cardiovascular Prize

• Joint First Prize: Roundwood Park School& Chigwell School ‌
• Second Prize: Merchant Taylor's School‌

Lung Prize

• First Prize: Saint Olave's Grammar School
• Joint Third Prize: - Kimberley Sixth Form College & Westminster school

Scleroderma and Raynaud’s Prize

• Joint First Prize:  Newham Collegiate School& Kings School, Canterbury
• Second Prize: - Watford Grammar School

Prizes for 2022

 Heart and Circulation Prize

• Joint First Prize: Oxford International College and Winstanley College
• Joint Third Prize: - Yarm School & Henrietta Barnett School

Lung Prize

• First Prize: - Concord College
• Second Prize: - St Olave's Grammar School
• Joint Third Prize: - Wycombe High School and North London Collegiate School

Prizes for 2021

BHF Heart School Teams Prize

• First Prize: Featherstone School ‌
• Second Prize: Yarm School ‌
• Joint Third Prize: - Concord College & Malvern St James