Brains at the Bevy

Dr Ben Fincham, University of Sussex

What is fun? How is it distinct from happiness or pleasure? How do we know when we are having it? Ben Fincham provides an entertaining account of this often taken-for-granted phenomenon.

Dr Jess Moriarty, University of Brighton and Christina Reading

Following our experiences with cancer, we felt lost. Trying hard to get back to the people we were before our illness and creatively stuck - Chris with her fine art and Jess with her writing – we chose to adopt an autoethnographic approach that we hoped would be transformative and also help us resist conventional academic research practices that seek to deny the personal (Moriarty, 2016). We engaged in a process of walking, writing and critique that we hoped would restore our creative processes. By trying something new, taking risks and being vulnerable in our work, we believed we would find a way back to the artist/writer and people we thought we needed to be. Instead, we identified a method of mapping a new way forward that helped us to accept the women we are post-cancer and shift and evolve our creative methods. We will offer insights into our work and engage the audience in creative tasks that helped us to map a way back.

Professor Mark Yeoman, University of Brighton

Studying the nervous system of snails has enabled us to more deeply understand the mechanisms by which nerve cells communicate and how changes in communication are fundamental to our ability to learn and remember. My research group uses the pond snail to understand how the ageing process impacts cell signalling and the consequences this has for learning and memory formation and motor function. This talk will focus on how ageing affects learning and memory in snails and the relevance this work has ageing in the human nervous system.

Dr Mel Flint, University of Brighton

Patients diagnosed with cancer often experience considerable psychological distress, and activation of the psychological stress response has been linked with a poor response to chemotherapy. The psychological stress response is mediated by fluctuations of the stress hormones such as cortisol. Stress hormones are responsible for signalling a wide range of processes involved in cancer spread and immune function. I will share research on our understanding of stress and stress hormones and how we may be able to improve both chemo and immune therapies for highly stressed cancer patients.

Dr Bhavik Patel, University of Brighton

Over 20% of the population suffers from some form of gut disorder. This talk will focus on how devices that are used to measure chemicals in our gut help us understand particular diseases and how we might be able to treat them.

The Bevy is a community owned pub and cafe, run by local staff, volunteers and shareholders. It's mission is to improve the lives of local people in the local Moulsecoomb and Bevendean area, which ranks in the top 5% of deprivation in the country.  

COVID-19 update

The community pub has been serving senior and vulnerable local residents across the neighbourhood throughout lockdown with a Bevy Meals on Wheels service.

The Bevy has twice been awarded as Britain's best community pub, made it to the short list for the Great British Pub Award and has been commended for being the heart of it's community. Below is a sample of when it made the headlines.