The event was held at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology (Teknisk Museum) and lasted for two days. It witnessed the participation of 1,000 students from Kristiansand, Gjøvik, Oslo, and surrounding areas, along with an additional 450 attendees. IEMR’s participation, by Mohammed Almashhadani, Henrik Dukefoss, and Emil Espe aimed to emphasize the significance of our research to understand the heart for the benefit of patients.
“We were met with great enthusiasm from the audience, especially our ongoing research focused on fibrosis”, says the Medical Research Curriculum Student Mohammed Almashhadani.
As part of the event, an exciting jumping competition, together with other engaging activities, was organized to engage young hearts in cardiac research. Participants ranged from the enthusiastic 1.5-year-old Herman with 28 jumps to the event winner, 9-year-old Martinius, who remarkably completed 3837 jumps, leaving everyone amazed.
“During the event, we had conversations with children and adults focusing on the importance of physical activity and its role in preventing various heart and cardiovascular diseases. The event also served as an educational platform where children learned to count their heart rate and listened to their hearts with a stethoscope before and after the jumping competition”, says Mohammed.
The questions they received varied from topics such as fibrosis, aortic stenosis, and heart transplantation to discussions about basic research, heart cells, and the use of animal models in research.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to showcase our work and engage with the public.”