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On 14 September, the Old Road Campus joined the 2019 Oxford Open Doors event and welcomed the public into our workplace.

The Old Road Campus is tucked out of the way next to the Churchill Hospital, but it’s home to a lot of really exciting medical research. The Department of Oncology, the Ludwig Cancer Research Institute, the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, the Structural Genomics Consortium, the Board Game Group, Oxford Universities Hospital Trust, the Biomedical Research Centre, the Nuffield Department for Population Health, and the Jenner Institute all came together to make the Old Road Campus accessible to anyone who wanted to explore.

Oncology was there to highlight how important clinical trials are to our work.  It’s so important to make sure that our ideas are backed by good data. Often new therapies work for only a subset of patients, making it especially important to design our trials to test the research with the right group of patients.

We were delighted to welcome over 180 visitors during the four hours we were open.  Adults and children discovered medical research through interactive exhibits and conversations with our scientists, many visitors also explored our labs guided by the researchers who work there. People came from across Oxfordshire, and we were really pleased to welcome so many of our neighbours from Headington and Cowley.

Our visitors typically spend an hour with us. Strengthened no doubt by tea and cake – which raised over £100 for the Churchill Partners.  https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/content/churchill-partners

Open Doors began life in 2007; a small project of the Oxford Preservation Trust - www.oxfordpreservation.org.uk.  It’s grown from small beginnings to over 30,000 visitors in 2018. A chance for everyone from Oxfordshire to explore the history and work of Oxford. You can read about the growth of Open Doors in this blog by the Oxford Preservation Trust Director -  https://www.oxfordpreservation.org.uk/content/august-oxford-open-doors-your-invitation-explore-city

If you missed Open Doors this year, keep an eye open for next year’s event.

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