The third edition of the Medical Research Day (Journée de la Recherche Médicale) was held at the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL) on 18th October 2017 to open the world the medical research to the lay public.

In line with their research and education missions, CHL, LIH and the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg co-organised this event that is gaining more success from year to year. The Medical Research Day is meant to inform the lay public - and in particular young people - about medical research by presenting current projects in the fields of sports medicine, oncology, allergology, infectious diseases, cardiovascular disorders and many others.

More than 300 high school students attended the Medical Research Day 2017 combining interactive workshops and short presentations allowing to better understand the mechanisms and challenges of medical research, and meeting with “real” scientists from the different research institutions. The young people also had the opportunity to see live experiments from Luxembourg’s famous “Mister Science” of the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR). 

Numerous scientists from LIH’s Department of Population Health and Department of Infection and Immunity as well as from IBBL – Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg participated in the event as speakers and workshop facilitators. Among these were the Clinical Research Associates and research nurses of the Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Centre presenting their professions.

‘The success of this event is amazing! We welcomed high school students from Diekirch, Esch-sur-Alzette and from almost all the high schools in Luxembourg City’, says Dr Manon Gantenbein, Head of LIH’s Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Centre. ‘The workshops were fully booked, we even had to refuse some classes due to lack of space.’ Such participation shows how much interest the young generation has in becoming familiar with medical research and healthcare carried out in Luxembourg.