Grant: CIHR Café Scientifique Program

Infection is a problem that touches us all. Whether missing school or work due to the common cold, or suffering from more serious forms of infection such as sepsis, we all know someone whose life has been impacted by infection. In recognition of the human and economic burden of infection, juxtaposed against a surprising lack of public awareness, September 13th was recently declared World Sepsis Day http://www.world-sepsis-day.org. To complement other activities our group will conduct in relation to World Sepsis Day this year, we will hold a Café Scientifique in October 2013 on the topic of infection. The target audience of interest for our café is children and their caregivers, and we have therefore selected the East Hamilton Boys and Girls Club as the venue for our event. As suggested by the title, three issues relevant to the topic of infection will be discussed at the Cafe: 1. What is infection? 2. How to find infection when it exists, and 3. How to beat infection! Our health research expert speakers, who are conducting CIHR-funded investigations into sepsis, will address these three issues, providing a stimulus for subsequent discussions. A fun and interactive hand hygiene exercise will also be provided to further engage the children in attendance and reinforce learning. We will promote our free and accessible Café Scientifique to the public using a variety of tools and strategies including poster advertisement, website advertisement, and through use of social media platforms such as Twitter. We will also incorporate the use of Twitter and Twitterfall into Café discussions, which will serve to broadly disseminate the content of our Café to members of the public.