The Royal Society of Biology celebrated biology in Northern Ireland on Monday 7 October at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 13^th annual Science and Stormont event in Belfast by sharing our work as scientists with a wider public audience.

Royal Society of Biology Northern Ireland Outreach Award Presentation at Science and Stormont (L-R) Professor Diane Lees-Murdock (Chair RSB NI Outreach Award Panel), Dr Patrick Dunlop (RSB NI Branch Chair), Professor Katrina Campbell, Yasna Najmi (Overall Winner), Dr Mark Downs (RSB Chief Executive, Dr Richard Briggs (RSB NI Outreach Award Panel), Dr Qiaozhu Su, and Dr Glenn Dickson (RSB NI Outreach Award Panel). Credit: Michael Cooper Photography.

Designed to foster close relations between scientists and policy makers, Science and Stormont is organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry on behalf of, and in cooperation with, the Northern Ireland science and engineering community. The central theme for this year’s event was The Green Economy.

During this event, the RSB’s NI Branch Outreach Champion Award was presented. The recipient – either an undergraduate or postgraduate student – is selected by the RSB NI Branch Committee in recognition and celebration of the student’s public engagement efforts.

This year’s award went to Yasna Najmi, a PhD student at Ulster University studying the effects of green tea on gum disease and dental implants.

Yasna has undertaken impactful work to spread awareness about gum disease and its prevention. While recruiting patients for her PhD trial, she educated and demonstrated correct tooth-brushing methods for all patients (including those who did not qualify for the trial). She has recorded a YouTube video with Vitae (a national organisation championing the personal and professional development of doctoral researchers and staff in higher education and research institutes) and given talks to raise awareness of proper dental implant maintenance.

During the Covid-19 pandemic when GlaxoSmithKline and Colgate were providing mini toothpaste samples, Yasna took these to a local shelter so that those in need could use them, and communicated the importance of oral hygiene. Yasna is dedicated to patient care and wellbeing and in her free time she would assist Master’s students in teaching them clinical hands-on dentistry and research.

Commenting on receiving the NI Branch Outreach Champion Award, Yasna said: "Science has always been my passion, but what drives me even more is the opportunity to share it with others. I believe that science has the power to spark curiosity and change lives and I’m dedicated to helping people connect with it in meaningful ways. Receiving this award is a true honour and it motivates me to continue finding new ways to reach and engage with diverse communities, ensuring that the wonder of science touches as many lives as possible. Even if it's something as simple as drinking green tea every day."

The event was sponsored by kind permission of Dr Steve Aiken OBE MLA, Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Chair of the All-Party Group on STEM.