The Ragon Institute, as part of its educational and community-building initiatives, is participating in Cambridge Science Festival 2021, a virtual event held throughout the month of April. The Science Festival is a celebration showcasing the leading edge in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Based out of the MIT Museum, the festival, normally held in-person, makes science accessible, interactive, and fun, attracting over 100,000 visitors annually. 

The Ragon is proud to be submitting four exhibits to the festival. These include the work of Ragon Core Members Galit Alter, PhD, and Shiv Pillai, MD, PhD, who use TikTok as a platform for COVID-19 centered science communication. You can find them on TikTok at @profgalitalter and @profpillaipoet, respectively. 

Galit Alter’s lab will also be submitting a short video, with Vicky Roy, Research Specialist, as project lead, featuring researchers answering COVID-19 with animations of their answers. Thomas Diefenbach, Assistant Director of the Imaging Core, is working with a team to use 2D animation to tell the story of one immune cell’s journey through the body. Finally, Christianne Sharr, PA, Clinical Team, is working with our clinical coordinators to create a virtual lesson, with a hands-on at-home component, on how the heart pumps blood. 

All Cambridge Science Festival projects, including the Ragon’s contributions, will be available online. You can learn more at https://cambridgesciencefestival.org or search for #30daysofscience on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.