We recently had an amazing talk given by a former Wallingford School pupil at our July Science Exchange Wallingford (Café Scientifique) meeting, and again the following day to a group of Gifted & Talented Year 10 & 12 students here in the school library.

Susan Ozanne, Professor of Developmental Endocrinology at the Institute of Metabolic Science at University of Cambridge attended Wallingford School before studying Biochemistry at Edinburgh University. She worked on Type 2 Diabetes for her PhD at Cambridge and has been involved in research into programming of appetite for almost 20 years.

In the 1990s, researchers discovered that our chances of developing Type 2 Diabetes were determined not just by the genes inherited from our parents, but also by our environment, including the food that we eat. Perhaps most surprisingly, it is not only our own diet that influences our chances of developing the disease, but even the food we received as a foetus in the womb. Therefore the phrase "you are what you eat" could be expanded to "you are what your mother ate"!

At the end of the talk she encouraged the students to pursue the subjects that they are really passionate about and highlighted the importance of such talks especially in connection with university interviews.

Science Exchange Wallingford (Café Scientifique) meetings are held bimonthly here in the school Blackstone Library at 7.30pm.

The details of our future meetings can be found on the VLE and posters around our school.
For further information see : tinyurl.com/science-exchange-wallingford

Students, staff and parents are always welcome.

By Avis Whitehouse & Carla Saunders.
Blackstone Library, Wallingford School.