King's joins Rio Olympic celebrations

King’s staff joined Olympic celebrations in Rio, taking part in events at the GB headquarters for the games - British House.
They were given a chance to showcase some of the work King’s has been doing in and on Brazil, and also sign a new partnership agreement.

Director of King’s Brazil Institute Professor Anthony Pereira and Director of King’s Drug Control Centre (DCC), Professor David Cowan, were invited to join the Education Day at British House hosted by British Ambassador to the UK Alex Ellis (a King’s Brazil Institute alum).

Professor Pereira took part in a panel called "Diverse and Connected: UK Universities and their Offer to Brazil” opening with a film on King’s and explanation of King’s historic connections to Brazil and the Portuguese speaking world.

Innovative work

This detailed research of the Brazil Institute including recent PhD work about the impact of a natural disaster on the towns of Novo Friburgo and Teresopolis (state of Rio), and the impact of public security reform on two poor communities in Recife.
Representatives from Queen Mary University, Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Birmingham also took part and highlighted their innovative work in Brazil.

King’s DCC and Professor Cowan’s team have played a major role in supporting the establishment of and advising the Rio games’ official laboratory in the frontline battle against drug cheats. The DCC which led the London 2012 operations and assisted with many others including the Beijing 2008 Games has worked closely with partner Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and its Laboratório Brasileiro de Controle de Dopagem (LBCD) to share knowledge and ensure testing is a success.
King’s staff have been working with Brazilian lab colleagues 24/7 at the Rio Olympics and will also support the Paralympic games behind-the-scenes testing. Professor Cowan chaired a panel at the British House on the ethics of anti-doping.

New partnership

Ambassador Ellis then witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between King’s and the American British Health Institute, based in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba. This MOU is to provide short courses to doctors in both Brazil and the UK, in very specific areas such as surgery for deformities of the vertebral column, pain treatment, updates in orthopaedics, radiology, endocrinology and other specialist areas.

British House is described as the UK’s official residence at Rio 2016, the place to celebrate Team GB’s performances and a showcase for the best of the UK and its capital, London. It is supported by the Mayor of London, Team GB and the Great Britain campaign.

Professor Pereira said: “We were honoured and delighted to be asked to join these events and the culmination of what has been a fantastic Games both for Brazil and Team GB – including our own King’s athletes and alumni. It was a great opportunity to share some of the great work King’s has been doing and further strengthen the close ties between our nations.”