News Story

On Saturday 12 August around 1000 people turned out to attend the Museum of Human Disease Open Day. The overwhelming response, due in part to publicity generated through coverage in The Sydney Morning Herald, resulted in long waits and queues for visitors as museum staff and volunteers carefully managed the crowds that arrived. Visitors were able to view museum specimens as well as participate in the Gut-Wrenching Science activity, which involved measuring their Body Mass Index and Body Fat % to assess their general health and wellbeing.

The feedback from visitors has been tremendously positive and many have expressed a desire to attend future events at the Museum:

“An unmitigated success- Great information and very good PR for faculty and university.”

“Fascinating and extremely inspiring for a student interested in doing something in the medical field. Thank you for this wonderful experience.”

The other major National Science Week event was the Gut Feelings Forum which was held on Monday 14 August. The evening featured the expertise of A/Prof Michael Grimm, Dr Rosemary Stanton and Prof Lesley Campbell. Over 100 people attended and posed some challenging questions for the panel!

Thank you to the many SoMS staff and invaluable museum volunteers that contributed to the success of these events.