Great Exhibition Road Festival 2025 - The Marvels of Female Health

This year’s “The Marvels of Female Health” stand organised as part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival welcomed hundreds of visitors to explore key aspects of Women’s Health through interactive activities and engaging in open conversations with Researchers, Scientists, Midwives and Clinicians from the Department of MDR as well as the Women’s Health Network. The stand was led by MDR’s Sherrianne Ng together with Danielle Thornton, Abigail Goodship, Belen Gimeno Molina and Eftychios Manoli who were part of the organising team. A dedicated team of volunteers from MDR and the Women’s Health Network also played a pivotal role in public engagement and in supporting the stand’s activities throughout the festival weekend. 

Located in the Adults Only Zone at the Beit Quadrangle, the stand had three core themes:

  • Vaginal Microbiome & Immune Cells – The Beads & Biomes workshop was organised in collaboration with Angela Wooi, a textile artist, as a fun and interactive activity that invited visitors to unleash their creativity whilst learning fascinating insights about the vaginal microbiome and immune cells from MDR researchers. The hands-on activity allowed participants to sew beads and textiles which represented different types of bacteria and immune cells found in the vaginal microbiome. Each unique, microbiome-inspired textile art was placed in a petri dish fitted with a magnet to allow visitors to take home their own personalised creation to display as a keepsake or conversation starter.

  • Hormones – The main feature of the exhibit was an interactive menstrual cycle chart, where visitors were invited to place sticky notes sharing their own symptoms, thoughts, feelings, and emotions experienced during different phases of the cycle. This participatory activity illustrated how hormonal fluctuations can influence physical, emotional, and mental health. It also helped to spark open and thoughtful conversations between visitors and MDR researchers, creating a welcoming space to share personal experiences and raise awareness of the topic.

    Another element of the stand enabled visitors to experience the ebb and flow of hormonal transitions across a woman’s life course through music. Different instruments and rhythms were used to reflect hormonal changes in a series of original compositions by Professor Phil Bennett. The music videos featured “The Menstrual Cycle Mamba” and “The Four Seasons” – a four-part musical repertoire representing the Reproductive Years, Pregnancy, Childbirth and Menopause.

  • Anatomy & Function – A collection of handmade 3D felt anatomical models, coloured diagrams, and educational leaflets were showcased. This offered visitors the opportunity to engage and learn about how female anatomy changes across life stages. Presented by midwives and clinicians from the Women’s Health Network, the display highlighted how reproductive anatomy and function can be influenced by key events including pregnancy and childbirth as well as conditions like fibroids, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and endometriosis.

Overall, the stand provided a platform to raise awareness of key issues that affects Women’s Health and to share ongoing research work being done in this field at Imperial College London.