A group of 16 South Korean high school science teachers visited the Department of Pharmacology on Monday 30th July. Associate Professor Dr Paolo Tammaro gave a lecture to the teachers on the interaction between STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and how they interact with pharmacology and medicine. The group, from the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education (DMOE), engaged in a Q&A session following the lecture, and also enjoyed a tour of the laboratories.
The visit is part of the Department's strategy of extensive engagement with college teachers, both nationally and internationally.
In his lecture, Dr Tammaro emphasised how modern biomedical research has tight links to mathematics, physics and engineering, and how undergraduate students in pharmacology and preclinical medicine benefit in from learning quantitative sciences and mathematics.
Dr Tammaro said, “I was delighted to talk about the role of STEM subjects in pharmacology and medicine. I have been interested in biological physics and mathematics since I was an undergraduate, so this subject is very dear to me. Discussing the topic with teachers made me reflect on how fruitful it may be to illustrate the interaction between these subjects in high school teaching.”
Among the guests were Prof Denis Noble, a world-leading expert in mathematical modelling in physiological functions, and Prof Yung E Earm from Seoul National University. The event was organised by Voices from Oxford.