Education

Science Training for Aspiring Research Scientists (STARS) 

STARS was founded at the Barts Cancer Institute, part of the  Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London, in 2013 and has been funded by the Cancer Research UK City of London Centre since 2024. This programme is a week-long work-experience for A-level students from schools with historically low university attendance, allowing them to experience and learn about cancer research first-hand.  

Earlier this year, the STARS team at BCI was awarded the Outstanding Team Award at the Queen Mary Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry staff awards for their exceptional work organising this programme. 

Academic Centre for Healthy Ageing 

The Academic Centre for Healthy Ageing (ACHA) is dedicated to improving care and support for older people in northeast London through research, education, and training. It is a collaborative project between Barts Health NHS Trust, Queen Mary University of London and Barts Charity. 

Based within Whipps Cross Hospital, with strong local community links, ACHA is closely connected to the Integrated Delivery Framework (IDF), a system-wide approach to transforming health and care services across the whole Whipps Cross catchment area. This means all the research happens where patient care happens. 

SHAPE Health Initiative 

At Queen Mary University of London, SHAPE Health is exploring what it really means to live well.  We believe that health is about possibility: the chance to live a life that feels rich, connected and purposeful.  This community driven project focuses on how health is shaped by the places we live, our beliefs and cultural practices, the services we use, the systems that enable us and the connections we make. 

SHAPE Health brings together Queen Mary’s world-class researchers and educators with the expert knowledge, creativity and lived experience of our Barking and Dagenham residents and local authority partners. This pioneering collaboration, between Queen Mary and Barking and Dagenham council, will develop education and research-backed solutions to address the health and healthcare challenges facing local residents. It coincides with the borough’s selection as one of just 43 areas across England to join the first wave of the NHS’s National Neighbourhood Health Programme - an initiative designed to shift care into communities and strengthen early intervention. 

SHARE Collaborative 

The SHARE Collaborative at Queen Mary University of London is a pioneering partnership that unites clinicians, researchers, and community organisations to tackle inequalities in HIV and sexual health across East London and beyond. Based within one of the UK’s largest HIV services, SHARE works directly with local NHS partners and community groups such as Positive East to co-design inclusive, patient-centred research and interventions. Its studies address barriers to early diagnosis, access to treatment, and participation in clinical trials—ensuring diverse representation, with more than half of participants from under-represented groups.  

In 2025, SHARE’s Director, Dr Sara Paparini, received a Tower Hamlets Civic Award recognising the project’s impact on health equity and community engagement. Through its collaborative approach to prevention, care, and public-health research, SHARE strengthens local health systems, reducing disparities in communicable-disease outcomes for vulnerable and underserved populations. 

Centre of the Cell   

Centre of the Cell is the first science education centre in the world to be located within working biomedical research laboratories.  It has engaged with >230,000 visitors since 2009 including, through 406 curriculum-linked science shows and workshops for >13,000 young people. Many of our students and junior scientists are science ambassadors, working to communicate science to children and enthusing them to become the biomedical researchers of the future. 

Visitors can see research scientists at work as they enter the centre and, once inside, can learn about the amazing world of cells, the human body and the latest medical research. 

 It aims to:  

• Stimulate interest and dialogue about biomedical research 

• Help to improve health and wellbeing in local communities 

• Raise aspirations, inspire the next generation of scientists and healthcare professionals, and widen participation in further education 

• Foster excellence in public engagement and science education 

Building a path to accessible medical education 

The Digital Education Studio allows us to make our education more accessible to future doctors around the entire world. The team are not just creating courses from a UK perspective and making them available, but co-creating courses with global universities, all while forging deep partnerships. By partnering with global universities and focusing on inclusivity, the initiative ensures students from diverse backgrounds can pursue medical careers. This effort fosters equitable education and prepares the next generation of healthcare professionals worldwide.  

BL Malta First Aid Society

Based on our Malta campus, the BL Malta First Aid Society offers a gateway to learning essential life-saving skills.  Their primary focus is to provide knowledge and a gateway to comprehensive first aid training in cooperation with the Emergency Response and Rescue Corps (ERRC). Both beginners and those already with some experience in first aid, once they have completed the basic first aid course, will have access to a wide range of courses tailored to their interests and skills level.  

My Asthma in School

The My Asthma in School project looks to improve asthma control and peer-support for asthma in young people in London through a series of educational workshops and a theatre performances in secondary schools. The final programme was delivered to a number of schools across London and other asthmatic young people agreed that the workshop and theatre piece changed how they think or feel about their own condition. 

Education for Choice 

Education for Choice is an award-winning student volunteering group and outreach initiative providing sexual health workshops aimed at secondary school students in the local community, raising awareness of sexual health. The sessions, led by student volunteers, cover the practical aspects of pregnancy decision making, from contraception to abortion. This is an evidence-led and non-judgemental, inclusive service for students, aiming to create a safe space to talk about often stigmatised topics. 

Smoking Cessation Campaigns

In partnership with Tower Hamlets, Queen Mary University London supported in leading and coordinating smoking cessation campaigns primarily at Newham’s older adults and those with long-term conditions within the borough’s diverse population. 

The campaign consisted of promoting vapes as alternative quit aids (Swap to Stop) and promoting smoke cessation advice and education at community centres such as libraries, leisure centres and local pubs as well as digital screens, social media and newsletters (Quit Well Newham).  

As a result, the Quit Well Newham Directory saw an 85% increase in referrals compared to same period previous year. Stop-smoking pages that were promoted had users revisit 2-3 times, indicating repeated consumption contributing to effectiveness. 

Let’s Talk Hearts 

Let’s Talk Hearts is a series of talks which are open to all, delivered through a partnership between The National Institute for Healthcare Research and Queen Mary’s Barts Biomedical Research Centre. Our last talk ran in April 2025 and gives attendees an opportunity to learn about heart conditions and how and why you should keep your heart healthy. Talks may also include the latest research on heart health.  

N2O – Know the Risks 

N20 Know the Risks, run by Queen Mary University of London, engages medical students, local youth groups and community organisations in east London to raise awareness of nitrous-oxide (N₂O) misuse and its neurological harms. Interactive workshops reached hundreds of teenagers in Tower Hamlets, with 97% of participants at a university festival-launch reporting that they were unaware of N₂O’s risks beforehand.  

The project informed new clinical pathways and contributed to national policy discussions on treating N₂O-related injuries, winning Queen Mary’s Civic & Community Policy Impact award in 2025. This holistic intervention connects education, community outreach and engagement, and health-system policy to reduce injury and risk in a vulnerable urban population. 

Big Mouth Tower Hamlets Project 

The Big Mouth project engages the local Tower Hamlets community in shaping oral-health research priorities by inviting residents to participate in surveys, “Big Conversation” workshops and researcher–community dialogues. In collaboration with local authority bodies and public-engagement funders, Queen Mary’s dental-public-health team shifts the focus away from deficits to community assets, prompting new questions for research design and service delivery.  

By bridging community insight, academic research and public-sector partners, the initiative strengthens local health-system responsiveness and builds more inclusive care pathways for underserved populations. This work contributes to reducing preventable disease and strengthening health system equity