Prof Philip Calder, Professor of Nutritional Immunology at Southampton University, who has spent much of his academic life studying Omega-3, presented his talk to give the background on Omega-3, in its different forms.

His particular focus was EPA and DHA which are found in fish omega-3 and it’s clear that he’s a fan of their effect on the Human body. By the end of his talk and Q&A, I suspect that most of the audience shared his enthusiasm for them too, and will be working out how to get more of them into their own diets.

As ever, the second session was audience Q&A when Cafe Sci members got to ask questions of particular interest to them.

Prof Philip Calder: Presentation

Prof Philip Calder: Presentation slides

Q&A with the audience

Presented by Dr Paul Bingham, who used to be the NHS Director of Public Health on the Isle of Wight, the ‘John Snow Bicentenary, Cholera Epidemiology, and the Isle of Wight’ talk covered the history of major Cholera outbreaks in the England and Wales in the 19th Century.

Those four outbreaks saw over 100,000 people die on the Mainland. The Island fared much better with only 350 dying. Snow came to the Island to study the Island’s cases.

Paul brought the subject up to date by looking at the ongoing problem of Cholera in Haiti.

Beyond the historical facts, Paul posed the questions, “Is it enough to be a scientist?”. He cited Tom Koch, who said, “Science is not about being right, but convincing others you are right.”

John Snow
John Snow, a man of humble beginning, is now credited with having formed the theory that Cholera spreads with water, food and occasionally touch. At the time he was largely ignored despite being a founding member of the Epidemiological Society of London.

Snow’s fame becoming sealed by Wade Hampton Frost, a lecturer at Harvard Media School, using Snow’s papers at a John Hopkins class. Frost’s pupils went on to write many of the textbooks of the late 20th Century, thus spreading Snow’s fame.

(For those of you interested, here’s a scan of ‘Snow on cholera‘ with a foreword by Frost.)

Dr Bingham’s presentation

Dr Paul Bingham presentation on John Snow

Q&A with the audience

Another strong turnout at this month’s Cafe Scientifique – one of the highest attendance numbers of the year – for the last session in this year’s season.

The pull? Professor Tara Dean who is, among other things, Professor of Health Sciences/Director of Research at Portsmouth University – with her presentation on Allergies.

She has been central to much of the research done on the Isle of Wight in to allergies, with the Island now being the best-known research location in the World, thanks to her.

Continue reading Prof. Tara Dean talk on Allergies →