“One of the reasons I became a scientist”: stories from New Scientist Live 2025
29 October 2025
New Scientist Live is one of the UK’s major STEM events, providing young people with opportunities to explore developments across fields from medicine and healthcare to robotics, agriculture and neuroscience.
We were delighted that the Medical Research Foundation – a recent funding partner with Moorfields Eye Charity – organised an exhibit at this year’s event.
The Foundation hosted an array of researchers including Dr Lizzy Rosser, associate professor at the UCL Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology, and Dr Vijay Tailor-Hamblin, research fellow at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO), both of whom received grants this year through our partnership with the Foundation, which is funding research focusing on child and adolescent eye health.
Dr Lizzy Rosser
Dr Rosser’s funding will help investigate uveitis linked to arthritis, focusing on the role of immune cells in the eye and ways to manage the condition. She and her colleagues, Dr Beth Jebson and Persephone Jenkins, created an interactive display using test tubes of glitter, colourful dyes and gel to communicate their work to young people at New Scientist Live. She explained:
We’ve got a hand-cranked centrifuge, which helps us mimic how we separate components of the blood, including white blood cells and immune cells.
In the lab they use pipettes to extract the cells, which can be stored frozen in liquid nitrogen to study later. Dr Rosser added:
As part of our funding, we’re collecting those kinds of cells, as well as cells from the eye from children with uveitis that’s associated with arthritis. I find it rewarding when we can do research that gives people more clarity about why they have uveitis, how we may be able to better treat it, and to include people in our studies.
Simulation spectacles
The researchers used simulation spectacles to help audiences understand how various eye conditions present visually, such as cataracts and glaucoma. Crowds of young people filled the venue, attending with youth groups or walking around excitedly with their parents and guardians. Dr Rosser was thrilled to be there, saying:
I was a similar kind of child; I read New Scientist. My dad’s coming later, and he used to buy it for me every week. It’s lovely for me to be involved in an event that was one of the reasons why I became a scientist.
Dr Tailor-Hamblin (centre), Dr Hugo Chow-Wing-Bom (left) and orthoptist Varshie Jeyarajah (right)
Dr Tailor-Hamblin’s funding is being used to build a study group to better understand intermittent exotropia. He was joined at the event by Moorfields and IoO colleagues – research fellow Dr Hugo Chow-Wing-Bom and orthoptist Varshie Jeyarajah – who provided people with the opportunity to wear VR headsets, giving an immersive experience of how it can feel to be in different situations with an eye condition.
Other highlights of the weekend included King’s College London’s interactive display of micro-robotic tools for eye surgery, Unitree’s robotic quadruped that delighted children as it moved like a small dog, Gina Rippon’s talk on autism, and a presentation from Chris Packham about the animal species that mean the most to him – notably badgers, kestrels, and miniature poodles.
Dr Rosser shared that the researchers presenting their insights at New Scientist Live work closely with schoolchildren, talking to them about how they can support and advance new research. She reflected on the impact of supporting young people with eye conditions and their networks:
We speak to families and children living with uveitis, and it’s important to recognise that when a child has an inflammatory condition, it affects the whole family. By donating to Moorfields Eye Charity, you’re supporting work that helps people with eye disease, but also their caregivers and everyone they’re living with.
