News archive 2010

King's experts at Cheltenham Science Festival

09 Jun 2010, PR 129/10

The 2010 Cheltenham Science Festival opens today with four King’s academics taking part in an exciting programme of events. King’s is partnering all four Cheltenham Festivals this year and the Science Festival takes place from 9 - 13 June.

Health psychologist Professor John Weinman from the Institute of Psychiatry, in his event The Psychology of Healing, will talk about the way a patient thinks and feels and how this affects their wound’s healing, and also whether treatments aimed at managing these factors can help to speed up the process.

Professor Weinman says: ‘My overall research interests are focused on investigating and assessing how patients perceive illness and treatment and how this affects the way they respond to and recover from a range of physical health problems. These studies focus specifically on how the life stresses people experience can impact on their ability to recover from different types of wound, such as those caused by surgical procedures and by different medical conditions.

‘I hope that these findings can now be used to identify psychological interventions to help speed up the recovery and healing process.’

King's academics are also involved in the following events:

Dr Mark Miodownik, Reader in Computational Materials Science, (pictured) is involved in three events during the festival. He will be leading a workshop guiding participants through the incredible technology inside their mobile phones as well as some other gadgets that have seen better days. He is also one of four scientists competing in the Over Ambitious Demo Challenge. The winner will have to deliver the most spectacular, impressive and show-stopping science demo.

Dr Miodownik will be joining Professor Clive Page in an event that aims to explore the history, science and sensations of chocolate.

Clive Page, Professor of Pharmacology, Division of Pharmaceutical Science, will be exploring why some people suffer from asthma and how they might be able to breathe easier in the future. With more than 5 million people affected by the condition, his talk will examine whether air pollution, eating habits or super clean environments are to be blame for the rising figures of sufferers.

The final event, Paranoid?, will showcase Dr Daniel Freeman's research into suspiciousness. Dr Freeman, Reader in Clinical Psychology, Institute of Psychology, will examine whether people are letting paranoia get the better of them, and how social and cultural factors skew the way they think and feel.

Notes to editors

About the Cheltenham Festivals
The Science Festival takes place from 9 -13 June.

Cheltenham Festivals is one of the leading cultural organisations in the country with the four festivals (jazz, science, music and literature)  boasting combined ticket sales of over 150,000 and enjoying enviable international reputations as leaders in their own fields.  Each festival features the most up-and-coming, controversial and entertaining performers, showcasing new works, young artists and unique performances, ensuring Cheltenham an exceptionally high profile with audiences and performers around the world. http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com   

The Psychology of Healing - Wednesday 9 June 2010 at 20.45 (60mins), Event S15 at Cheltenham Town Hall, Price: £8
http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/science-2010/the-psychology-of-healing/

Asthma - Friday 11 June 2010 at 17.00 (60mins), Event S48 at Cheltenham Town Hall, Price: £7
http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/science-2010/asthma/

Chocolate - Friday 11 June 2010 at 20.45 (90mins), Event S53 at Cheltenham Town Hall, Price: £12
http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/science-2010/chocolate/

Over Ambitious Demo Challenge 2010 - Friday 11 June 2010 at 19.00 (60mins), Event S52 at Cheltenham Town Hall, Price: £8
http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/science-2010/over-ambitious-demo-challenge-2010/

Paranoid - Saturday 12 June 2010 at 18.30 (60mins), Event S74 at Cheltenham Town Hall, Price: £8
http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/science-2010/paranoid/

Workshop: Gadget Dissection - SOLD OUT Sunday 13 June 2010 at 16.00 pm (60mins), Event S89 at Cheltenham Town Hall, Price: £6, (member price: £4.80)
http://cheltenhamfestivals.com/science-2010/workshop-gadget-dissection/

King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2009) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has nearly 23,000 students (of whom more than 8,600 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 5,500 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org




Further information
Alex Bevis, Public Relations Department,
Public Relations Department, King's College London
Email: alex.bevis@kcl.ac.uk  Tel: 020 7848 3238

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This information is provided by the Public Relations Department
Tel: 020-7848 3202  Fax: 020-7848 3739  Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk