The virtual project, called EPIDEMIC, invited young people to creatively convey five COVID-19 research reports produced by Imperial’s COVID-19 Response Team through a series of recorded performances. 

Twenty young people, aged 14 to 20 and from under-represented backgrounds, were chosen to be part of the project. They formed five groups and worked on different research reports. The young people also chose which part of the creative process they wanted to be involved in, such as screen writing, directing, acting or video editing.

The EPIDEMIC project was initiated and managed by Fola Afolabi (Imperial Graduate Management Trainee on a placement with PERC and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London), with the creative aspects facilitated by the Burnt Orange Theatre Company. The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London funded the project.

Read this blog to learn more about the project from those involved.

Scroll down to watch the full EPIDEMIC video series as research meets performance.

Molly and Kira

Molly and Kira conveying their thoughts on the COVID-19 pandemic through performances.

Rana

Rana, a project manager, discussing ways to engage young people in scientific research during a focus group session.

Daisy and Madhi

Daisy and Mahdi watching other performances during the workshop on young people’s thoughts on COVID-19

EPIDEMIC video series: Research Meets Performance

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 1

Episode 1: The research stimulus for this video was Report 1 - Estimating the potential total number of novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) cases in Wuhan City, China, which was produced by the Imperial College MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis.

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 1

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 1

The research stimulus for this video was Report 1 from the Imperial COVID-19 Response Team

Episode 1: The research stimulus for this video was Report 1 - Estimating the potential total number of novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) cases in Wuhan City, China, which was produced by the Imperial College MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis.

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 2

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 2

The research stimulus for this video was Report 10 from Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team

Episode 2: The research stimulus for this video was Report 10 – Public response to UK Government recommendations on COVID-19: population survey, 17-18 March 2020, which was produced by the Imperial College MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis. 

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 3

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 3

The research stimulus for this video was Report 13 from Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team

Episode 3: The research stimulus for this video was Report 13 – Estimating the number of infections and the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in 11 European countries, which was produced by the Imperial College MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis.

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 4

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 4

The research stimulus for this video was Report 22 from Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team

Episode 4: The research stimulus for this video was Report 22 – Equity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: an assessment of the direct and indirect impacts of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations in low-and lower middle-income countries, which was produced by the Imperial College MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis. 

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 5

COVID-19 R&P: Research Meets Performance | Episode 5

The research stimulus for this video was Report 24 from Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team

Episode 5: The research stimulus for this video was Report 24 – Anonymised & aggregated crowd level mobility data from mobile phones suggests initial compliance with COVID-19 social distancing interventions was high & geographically consistent across UK, which was produced by the Imperial College MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis.