IRR opens to the public for Doors Open Day 2025

The event, which was hosted at our IRR South Building, was coordinated as part of the 2025 Doors Open Day festival, which invites members of the public into fascinating spaces across Scotland every September.

Over the course of the day, volunteers from across the Institute and wider College invited visitors of all ages to participate in interactive science and research engagement.

Dr Rana Fetit, who secured funding from the Explorathon Enabling fund to deliver her activity “Brain Explorers”, also hosted a science talk ‘Lego Brains’ at our Exhibition Staircase. The talk and exhibit invited participants to explore how the human brain works, and how research at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine is working to improve brain health.

IRR partnering organisations also shared their work with visitors, highlighting the science behind gene and cell therapies. Catapult showcased their bioreactors and translational bench-to-bedside technology, while EuroGCT hosted an interactive floor game. This highlighted the different roles of the cells protecting our bodies and explains how we get many different types of cells from stem cells.

Other exhibits from across the Institute and College included the diagnostics behind microbial keratitis, our flow cytometry facility, and the use of ultra-violet light in clinical therapies (presented by the u-Care team). Visitors also had the opportunity to use 3D pens to recreate human anatomy, discover how zebrafish are instrumental in understanding our biology, and how biometric data collection can improve our mental health.

Alongside our table-top activities, lab tours ran throughout the day, giving members of the public the rare opportunity to visit science facilities usually limited to researcher access only. We also exhibited art pieces which revealed the varying and surprising roles of hormones as well as comics sharing insights on a profession in science. 

It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the IRR's research and facilities, as well as the larger clinical and scientific advancement happening at both the BioQuarter health district and wider College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine here in Edinburgh.