IRR Stories

Congratulations to IRR's Lauren Melrose and Shonna Johnston on the recent recognition at the CMVM Staff Awards 2026. In addition, Florence Gohard was nominated.

Events led by Lucy Doyle, Marcin Maniak, and David Baird engaged audiences of all ages, combining storytelling, hands-on experiments, and expert talks to explore curiosity-driven discovery, the immune system and transplantation through time.

Two cross-IRR groups made use of the Tenner for Tickets scheme to foster and build new relationships within the IRR to enhance connections and culture.

Dr Joy Edwards-Hicks, IRR Group Leader, was selected by the Scottish Parliament to be one of their appointed academic fellows. In January, Dr Edwards-Hicks published a briefing for the Scottish Parliament covering the subject of healthy ageing in Scotland. We caught up with Joy to find out about her experience as an academic fellow and her project.

We spoke with Professor Kenneth Baillie about his pioneering research and biggest discovery - finding a drug that was effective for critically-ill Covid patients.

Nicole Dron, the Clinical Skills Facilitator at the Edinburgh Medical School, shares how her personal experiences with menopause shaped her strategies around policy engagement, and how we too can use our lived experiences to enable positive change.

In celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11th February), we spoke to Laura María Quesada Ojeda about her work in women’s health and the current research she is supporting.

Following her inaugural lecture as a new professor, we caught 5 minutes out of Professor Katrin Ottersbach’s busy schedule to chat about her career so far and her goals for the future.

It’s World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (18 – 24 Nov). We caught up with Prof Till Bachmann, IRR Group Leader and Co-Lead of the CIR Translational Medicine theme, to tell us about his research and how he’s tackling antimicrobial resistance.

Today is World Lung Day and we're sharing some of our projects that are currently working to improve lung health.

The 1-5 September marks the University of Edinburgh’s Technician Week, an annual celebration of the contribution of all our technicians.

For four weeks this summer, IRR hosted local high school students as part of both the BioQuarter’s Summer Interns and University’s Career Ready programmes.

We spoke to IRR Communications and Engagement Officer Abbie Lacy-Darrah about her role supporting the ENDO1000 project and EXPPECT centre within the Centre for Reproductive Health.

We wrap up another successful Science Insights this week. This is a work experience programme designed to give forty 5th year high school students a real insight into research and work in many different areas of biological, biomedical and animal sciences.

We caught up with Dr Beth Mills, IRR Group Leader, to tell us about her research in microbial keratitis.

Dr Chris Lucas, IRR Group Leader, was selected by the Royal Society to attend their annual ‘pairing scheme’, to explore how scientific evidence shapes UK policy. Paired with a member of the House of Lords, Chris gained rare insight into the policy-making process, and discovered a surprising openness to academic expertise. We caught up with Chris to find out more about his experience.

Dr Beth Mills, IRR Group Leader, shares insights from her team’s participation in the Edinburgh Science Festival, where they engaged the public with vital research on microbial keratitis — a little-known but serious eye infection.

We spoke to Stephen Gordon, our newest CIR Principal Investigator, about his research into global respiratory medicine.

We spoke to Dr Lucy Whitaker, a senior clinical research fellow about her research into endometriosis and community involvement.

Today (11 February) is the 10th Anniversary of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and we’ve asked three scientists from the IRR to share their career journeys and experiences of being women in the field.

As we approach the end of 2024, we’re celebrating a year of fantastic community and scientific achievement with our #12DaysOfResearch series.

We spoke to Francesca Hearn-Yeates about her PhD and The Wandering Womb, a public engagement activity designed to encourage conversations around menstruation.

This September we launched our sexual health awareness campaign across our website and social media.

We spoke to Professor Richard Anderson about his roles at the University and research into male contraception.

It is World Contraception Day (26 Sep 2024) and we spoke to Professor Sharon Cameron about the current and upcoming contraceptive trials her team are working on.

For #Red4Research day, we want to highlight and celebrate all those who make our research possible. ‘Our Lives with IBD’ perfectly demonstrates the importance of partnership in planning and designing research.

Dr Rana Fetit, a Fellow at the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, about her role within the IRR, newly published comic book and August Fringe shows. (22 August 2024)

Expert Opinion article by Professor Richard Weller

The u-Care project brings public engagement activities to the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition to see over 10,000 visitors over the six day celebration.

Dr Sofia Ferriera, a fellow at the Centre for Inflammation Research, tells us a bit about herself and shares her research into skin ageing.