Salford Students Launch online Biomedicine Magazine

A group of undergraduate students, with the backing of their lecturers, have launched the first ever Salford Biomedicine magazine, The Bioscientist. The free online quarterly publication is now available and has been written for students by students covering research, topical issues, careers advice and opportunities for students that support their development and employability.

Dr Sara Namvar, Student Engagement Lead, and one of the academics who helped the magazine become a reality alongside her colleagues said: “The pandemic has been an incredibly difficult time for our students and we were determined that lockdown would not limit the opportunities we provide for students that enhance their learning and ultimately their employability. 

“The Biomedicine Team at Salford pride ourselves on the varied extra-curricular activities we provide students, from Salford Passion Flash (a TEDx style event open to all Science, Engineering and Environment students), Biomedicine Book Club, to the Biomedicine Art Club. Alongside my colleagues Niroshini Nirmalan and Aimee Pinnington, we had many lengthy discussions on what meaningful student engagement activities we could do for our students that will allow them to express themselves in a professional manner not only to their peers but to the outside world and show their X-factor. We wanted to offer fun opportunities that build employability skills.”

Aimee Pinnington, a University Teaching Fellow and Biomedical Scientist at Royal Stoke University Hospital has presented the magazine to the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), the programs accrediting body.  She said: “The IBMS were very impressed with the quality of the magazine and are running a promotional story on the careers area of their website. They were particularly interested to hear that the magazine had helped to initiate conversations about IBMS careers engaging students with their work.

“We are incredibly proud of the students who have worked tirelessly on the first issue and produced a piece of work to such a high specification. Friendships have developed across our student community and it is through these relationships that learning is nurtured and opportunities are created.”

Caitlin Owen, Nadia Patel and Bruce Veloso are the undergraduate students who are co-editors of the magazine. The trio not only wrote articles for the first edition but also took on the role of finding contributing stories from the student community. Caitlin Owen, one of lead student editors said: “It is really exciting to be co-founding the first ever student-led biomedicine magazine. With our limited ability to socialise and engage with our courses and the Biomedicine Society in person, it seemed more valuable now than ever to come together as students, with staff, to collaborate on a shared project that allows us to communicate about topics that are important to us as students and scientists."

Second lead editor Nadia Patel added “The main aims of the whole project is communicating ideas and opportunities with students and opening up discussions on topics we might previously have had in person, The magazine format allowed us to be a bit more creative in how we did this. Also, as the BiomedSoc, we've attempted to bridge the gap between the professional world and student communities using this publication, which is hopefully going to be valuable given the current situation.”

The magazine is currently available for Salford students and their alumni community with the editors’ vision for the publication to go into wider circulation. The current issue covers news on the Covid-19 vaccine, the role of animal agriculture on the pandemic and research spotlight on lung tissue damage caused by smoking.

The next edition will be available at the end of March and promises to be a must-read for biomedicine students not just at undergraduate level but also relevant for postgraduate studies. This magazine is also of relevance to budding bio-scientists and prospective students.

If you would like to contribute to the next edition, or would like to find out more contact: Dr Sara Namvar: s.namvar@salford.ac.uk and Aimee Pinnington: a.pinnington@salford.ac.uk