Northern Ireland Science Festival 2026

CLuB was represented at The Wonderful World of Pharmacy event during the Northern Ireland Science Festival 2026 by several of our researchers. This was a public open day where they showcased strawberry DNA extraction, using the strawberry as a representative of an organ and its juice as a representative of blood to demonstrate how DNA can be extracted and analysed for cancer diagnosis and prognosis markers.

In addition, they conducted the supertaster test to illustrate how gene expression varies among individuals. This demonstrates why people respond differently to the same treatment, highlighting the need for better patient stratification to improve outcomes.

The event was well attended with visitors learning about CLuB, and gaining hands-on experience. The Festival runs until Sunday 22 February across 90 venues including Queen’s University Belfast: https://www.qub.ac.uk/events/ni-science-festival/

CLuB Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr Syed Umbreen (second left) with fellow QUB researchers at NI Science Festival

CLuB co-lead Dr Paul Mullan (right) at NI Science Festival with patient advocates Stephen McCormick and Christine Campbell

CLuB demonstrations at NI Science Festival