Overview

We believe that science should benefit everyone and flourish with the participation of everyone. Inclusive science reflects the diversity of our world, guiding our endeavours and unleashing new ideas, insights and innovations that can change lives.

In order to promote inclusiveness and make science accessible to all, we have identified five key focus areas: gender, accessibility needs, Diseases that need attention, overseas students and economically underdeveloped areas.

We are working hard in these areas to fulfil our responsibility and make science more accessible. Together, we can create a world in which people from all walks of life contribute to groundbreaking discoveries that benefit everyone.

Responsibility Indicator (CARES model)

Community、Accountability、Response、Effect、Sustainability

The CARES model is grounded in care, concern, and relationships, extending beyond individuals to communities, organizations, and the environment. By fostering trust, it creates a continuous cycle that aligns projects with real societal needs while ensuring openness and accountability. CARES emphasizes that responsible innovation is not only about technology but also about embedding equity, trust, and inclusion into sustainable development.

Guidance

Our Inclusivity work follows the pathway of “needs discovery — solution design — practical implementation — feedback optimization”, connecting stakeholder interviews, accessibility of scientific knowledge, and inclusive designs for diverse groups into a complete IDEAL cycle. This framework not only ensures that each activity supports the others, but also allows our social practices to genuinely influence and feed back into the direction and implementation of our core project.

Endless Pandemic, Restless Women

In the winter of 2025, during a stakeholder interview at a hospital, our team observed several women in the waiting hallway wearing makeshift protective gear. They had their hair tightly wrapped in shower caps, donned raincoats over their winter clothing, and pulled the zippers tightly, sitting at orderly intervals as they anxiously awaited their turn to enter the consultation rooms. They demonstrated excellent flu prevention awareness, but also revealed the deep anxiety and distress of being mothers. The sight of these women still lingers in our minds.

During periods of high flu transmission, pregnant women often bear a double risk. On one hand, their immune systems are suppressed due to physiological and hormonal changes, making them more vulnerable to severe infections and complications. On the other hand, they carry the additional responsibility of safeguarding the life of their unborn child. Research has showDn that: “Women who have influenza and are either pregnant or within the 2-week postpartum period are at increased risk of subsequent development of pneumonia. Influenza during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of additional medical visits, hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions, and adverse perinatal and neonatal outcomes.” This means that even a common fever or cough could trigger a chain reaction, potentially impacting the entire family's future.

However, when society discusses public health crises, women are often lumped into the vague category of “vulnerable groups.” Beyond physiological changes and individual differences, the unequal distribution of healthcare resources, gaps in public health information, and insufficient psychological support make the challenges women face during illness even more complicated and isolating. This is not just an issue of clinical treatment but also a manifestation of gender inequality.

In this context, our team decided to base our actions on the IDEAL Cycle, starting with Insight, followed by Design, Execute, Assess, and concluding with Learn. Through personal interviews and survey data, we aim to transform women's voices into real, visible change, step by step. We believe that acknowledging women’s health and caregiving rights not only strengthens disease prevention education but also embodies human rights and social inclusivity.

Insight: Gender Differences in Flu Impact

After reviewing the literature, we found that during the outbreaks of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 or the flu, female caregivers bear disproportionate physical and psychological burdens. For example, in the healthcare system, female healthcare workers often face inequalities in work intensity, psychological load, and the allocation of protective resources, leading to significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout compared to their male counterparts (Morgan R et al.2022). This issue is not limited to the medical field; it is widespread in family caregiving as well. In households, particularly in Asian societies, women are often the primary caregivers, dedicating themselves to taking care of children and husbands. However, without adequate support from the family, this imbalance can plant the seeds of mental health issues. When they fail to fulfill their caregiving responsibilities, they are often blamed for not fulfilling their roles as wives or mothers, leading to guilt and psychological pressure. Thus, this becomes a long-term, accumulated social issue. The physiological differences between women and men also lead to higher risks. Research on respiratory diseases has shown that women are more susceptible due to immune responses, hormonal fluctuations, and pregnancy. Pregnant women who contract the flu experience faster disease progression and an increased risk of complications for the newborn (Corica B et al.2022), which is a result of inherent physiological differences.

Through our field survey, we revealed the gender bias within social structures. The 43 valid responses from our questionnaire indirectly supported the conclusions drawn from the literature: 46.51% of households are primarily responsible for caregiving by women, with only a few being shared by men; over 80% of respondents noted that women bear the dual burden of work and family, significantly increasing their stress; 41.86% of respondents believed that women face structural barriers in accessing vaccines and protective resources, with most of these being unconscious, systemic oversights rather than individual discrimination; 76.7% of respondents agreed that there is a gender gap in the distribution of epidemic prevention resources, and 81.4% supported the development of protective products specifically for women. These data reveal the ingrained gender role expectation that women are the default caregivers, and the unequal distribution of resources and systems, which make women bear multiple risks during flu outbreaks.

In specialist interviews, we further confirmed that the psychological distress of female caregivers is being overlooked. Two physicians, one from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department and one from the Psychiatry Department of Zhujiang Hospital in Guangzhou, both pointed out that the most common psychological issues for female caregivers during the pandemic were anxiety, insomnia, and emotional instability. Anxiety often arises from the need to care for children and sick family members while not being able to balance work; concerns about deteriorating conditions, lack of resources, and correct information further exacerbate these feelings. Emotional instability manifests as irritability over minor issues and heightened mood swings. Social pressure, meanwhile, causes women to feel unacknowledged for their efforts, even though these sacrifices are often seen as expected. This long-term accumulation of unaddressed issues leads to a sense of being overlooked. While self-adjustment is often insufficient or reliant on limited family or friend support, the scarcity of professional psychological counseling and the stigma attached to it make it harder for these individuals to find an outlet for their frustrations. Ultimately, the physicians clearly stated, “Women need to be understood, listened to, and seen”—a need that goes far beyond healthcare and touches upon the societal and cultural shifts that must take place.

By synthesizing the findings from the literature, survey, and clinical interviews, we conclude that the health risks and psychological struggles faced by female caregivers (especially pregnant women and mothers) during flu outbreaks and other public health crises are systematically overlooked. This brings us to the core question: How can we provide targeted protective resources and social support to address this issue?

Design: Flu Blocker Kits & Pregnancy Knowledge Cartoon Book

Flu Blocker Prevention Kit

Based on insights gained from the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that prevention kits are one of the most accepted forms of public health education by patients. Not only do these kits offer emotional support and ease anxiety, but the physical items also play a vital role in helping the public fight against viral infections. As a result, we developed the Flu Blocker Prevention Kit.

Contents:

• 3 surgical masks
• 3 pairs of disposable gloves
• 10 alcohol-based disinfectant wipes
• 1 digital thermometer
• 1 flu protection manual specifically for pregnant women
• 1 prevention kit bag made from waterproof, durable non-woven fabric, printed with our team logo.

Pregnancy Knowledge Cartoon Book

This cartoon book, co-created by three universities, targets pregnant women. It covers common health issues during pregnancy, using a simple and easy-to-understand format suitable for readers of all ages—from children to the elderly. The book is designed to promote knowledge about key maternal health topics in a visually engaging manner.

Execute: Actionable Outcomes

Assess: Listening to Feedback, Driving Improvements

Survey data:

Figure7. Nearly 70% of respondents believe that the responsibility of family care is clearly shouldered by women.

From the public:

Learn:Actionable Plan for Improvement

After distributing the prevention kits and promoting the pregnancy knowledge picture books to the public, we analyzed the feedback from interviews and surveys to identify areas for improvement in both design and promotion. We have proposed the following three core strategies for improvement:

To begin with, there is significant potential to optimize both the presentation format of the prevention kit contents and the communication channels used. Users are generally more focused on the physical items in the kit than on the accompanying explanatory text. However, the core goal of the team is to share professional knowledge, rather than just distribute supplies. To address this, upgrading the paper-based instructions to a more interactive and accessible format would be beneficial—incorporating QR codes on the information page that link to short videos or animations (easily created with AI tools) could improve the efficiency of information absorption. Additionally, strengthening trust by recommending the kits through authoritative channels such as hospital prenatal schools and perinatal care doctors would help increase user confidence. On the promotional side, it is essential to expand beyond offline distribution alone by utilizing regular communications from healthcare institutions (e.g., monthly updates in maternity groups), maintaining active social media accounts at universities, and collaborating with hospitals to implement a “survey-reward” mechanism (where completing surveys provides discounts). This strategy not only quantifies the number of beneficiaries and the reach of knowledge dissemination but also creates a sustainable feedback loop.

Our understanding of women's needs should also expand from a focus on the "product side" to a broader "social structure" perspective. Feedback from our interviews and surveys highlighted that women—especially younger caregivers—are under long-term pressure from family responsibilities, not just the temporary burden posed by the pandemic. What they need is a restructured family support system, particularly with greater involvement from men. Clinical obstetricians have observed that 70%-80% of pregnant women now have their husbands accompany them during prenatal checkups, signaling a shift in mindset. To strengthen this trend, content design can play a key role—for example, creating joint parenting videos or guides on male involvement. Furthermore, mental health issues faced by women are a lifelong concern, so we recommend expanding the content to cover different stages of life, such as adolescence, pregnancy, and the workplace. Men should also be included as a key audience to enhance the overall effectiveness of health interventions through a "family collaboration" approach.

Finally, we are looking to collaborate with local hospitals to improve the synergy between "empowering through authoritative channels" and "lightweight content." We found that when the prevention kits are distributed solely by students, they are often overlooked. However, if recommended by doctors or integrated into hospital courses, the kits' credibility increases significantly. Additionally, the content should be adapted to a media environment where "clickbait" headlines dominate. Using short videos and other lightweight formats can lower the barriers to information reception. In conclusion, our findings show that professional healthcare projects must consider both social and cultural contexts as well as user cognitive habits to transition from "one-way communication" to "two-way co-creation."

Science, for All

In our science communication practice, we found that marginalized groups face significant barriers to accessing information. Since mainstream materials rely heavily on text and spoken language, they often fail to meet the needs of visually or hearing-impaired audiences, limiting both their learning and their participation in scientific communities. To address this gap, we designed tailored inclusion strategies that deliver scientific resources to these groups, helping bridge information divides, remove barriers, and foster a more inclusive society.

Visual Impairments: Shifting from Visual Dependency to Auditory Channels

We specifically focused on optimizing the presentation of our content for individuals with color blindness and visual impairments, effectively eliminating visual information barriers. To ensure clarity for everyone, our project promotional posters adopted a color-blind friendly palette, making the information readily visible and accessible. Furthermore, to aid the visually impaired, we developed a voice narration function and integrated a screen reader into our team's Wiki pages. This feature supports full-text audio broadcasting, significantly helping individuals with visual impairments grasp complex scientific concepts.

Hearing Impairments: Augmenting Visual Information via Sign Language

For the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, we collaborated with vivo’s sign language translator to create picture-in-picture sign language subtitles for our team’s presentation video. Through professional interpretation and carefully adapted video presentation, we transformed the core messages of the iGEM competition—its values, and our team’s scientific project—into accessible visual information. In this way, the deaf community could truly experience the warmth and inclusivity of science. See the presentation video for details.

Elderly Populations: Adapting to Cognitive Habits through Simplified Communication

We took into account the language preferences and cognitive characteristics of the elderly population when designing our science communication materials. In Guangdong, where our team is based, many older adults do not speak Mandarin. The dominant local languages are Cantonese, with some regions also using Hakka and Teochew. To address this, we recorded popular science audio materials in both Cantonese and Hakka. Centered on the theme of “Influenza Prevention and Elderly Health,” these recordings explain professional knowledge in everyday language, making it easier for elderly audiences to understand.

Bridging the doctor-patient relationship

In collaboration with NUDT-China and Sustech-Med, we conducted research into the current state of the doctor-patient relationship and related management conditions, resulting in the creation of a guidebook.

Handbook for Building Warm and Effective Doctor-Patient Relationships

Multilingual Accessibility: Eliminating Language Barriers

To address linguistic and cultural diversity, we built a multilingual information support system. The flu knowledge picture book was translated into four major languages, including Chinese, English, French, and Korean, while the maternity picture book was adapted into six languages, including Chinese, English, French, Russian, Nepali, and Urdu. This ensures our educational materials can benefit people worldwide.Details can be found on the following pages.

Spotlight on Illness: Alzheimer's Disease、Autism、Mental Illness

While modern disease diagnostic systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, numerous rare and emerging diseases still face the critical challenges of "lack of public awareness and scarce resources," demanding greater societal attention.

We tailored our science communication content to address the specific needs of various disease communities. The authentic feedback we received underscored a crucial insight: science popularization (SciComm) is not merely about knowledge dissemination, but fundamentally about illuminating a beacon of hope for minority groups.

Alzheimer's Disease:Centering on Cognitive Awareness and Caregiving Guidance

Within the general disease awareness landscape, Alzheimer's Disease (AD) became a major focus for our team due to its high prevalence and the pervasive public misconceptions surrounding it. We observed a critical issue: many family members, lacking sufficient disease knowledge, either mistake early-stage memory loss for normal aging, thus delaying intervention, or their inadequate care methods exacerbate patient anxiety.

Consequently, we centered our strategy around "Disseminating Knowledge to Debunk Misconceptions and Providing Care Guidance to Solve Practical Issues." We developed exclusive science communication content tailored specifically for elderly individuals and their caregivers to foster correct public understanding.

To help the elderly scientifically understand AD, our team hosted a public welfare science popularization event at Guangzhou Elderly Cadre University.We specially invited Dr. Zhai Linlin, a doctoral candidate from the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University, to be the keynote speaker. Combining her expertise with an understanding of the elderly demographic's cognitive characteristics, the specialist utilized simple and straightforward language. This approach successfully built a crucial bridge between "professional knowledge" and "elderly understanding," effectively debunking various cognitive fallacies and establishing a scientific awareness of AD.

Furthermore, we distributed customized health and anti-epidemic kits to the participating senior learners and interpreted key points for influenza prevention. This ensured our warm touch of health protection extended to every participant. Senior attendees provided enthusiastic feedback, noting that the event content was practical and the format considerate. They reported not only gaining clear knowledge of AD but also receiving useful health supplies and services. Details can be found on the EDUCATION page.

Responding to her suggestion, we are currently developing training regimens focused on Alzheimer’s prevention.Concurrently, we have published targeted influenza prevention guidelines specifically developed for Alzheimer's Disease patients across all of our team's social media platforms.

Autism: Addressing Intervention Gaps

We chose to focus on the limitations of autism treatment and intervention. To this end, we visited relevant institutions, engaging in face-to-face interactions with children on the Autism Spectrum. We offered them simple science popularization activities and company.

Concurrently, we developed targeted influenza prevention guidelines specifically for individuals with Autism and published them across all of the team's social media platforms.

Mental Illness:Mental and Psychological Health Status

During our dialogue with Dr. Xue Li, a specialist in Psychiatry and Psychology, we learned how to effectively communicate with patients suffering from mental and psychological illnesses and their families, as well as concrete ways to offer support.

The upcoming October 10th marks the 33rd World Mental Health Day, an occasion that calls for attention and promotion of mental well-being. Accordingly, we developed targeted influenza prevention guidelines for individuals facing poor mental health and published them across all of the team's social media platforms.

Overseas Students: Dreams and Challenges

Economic globalisation and technological advancement have reshaped human mobility. Transnational education is no longer an elite privilege; it is now one of the mainstream educational options. The international student population has expanded rapidly and is now an indispensable component of the higher education ecosystem. It is clear that when students from diverse cultural backgrounds enter specialised academic fields, the "dual challenge" posed by language barriers and cognitive differences gradually emerges, which is particularly true in disciplines like biology.

Insight: The Academic Dilemma Between Humanistic Demands and Precision Science Requirements

Despite holding language proficiency certificates, international students find it significantly challenging to understand specialised subjects like biology and medicine taught in Chinese. At an academic language level, the main issue is the lack of direct correspondence between the terminology of their native language and Chinese or English technical terms. Even those with adequate daily communication skills struggle to cope with the barrage of specialised vocabulary encountered in Chinese-taught lectures and seminars. For medical institutions such as our university, the cross-cultural empathy demanded by medical humanities education and the efficient synthesis of information required by biology create a unique academic predicament for international students.

Design: Insight-Driven Multi-Dimensional Support System

Based on the above insights, the core of the Design phase lies in building a support system that is deeply embedded in academic life, multidimensional, and systematic. We envision this system operating on the principle of “empowerment” rather than “burden,” achieved through the synergistic interaction of multiple organically linked modules. First, by strengthening the language support system,we actively assist international students in overcoming academic comprehension challenges stemming from non-native language barriers. Second, by enhancing the life support system we provide human-centered care. Simultaneously, we will promote peer-led study groups, guided by senior students from the same country and domestic peers, to focus on collaborative learning around subject-specific challenges. Meanwhile, to address the dilemma of medical treatment for international students, we have designed an accompanying medical service for international students, which aims to safeguard students' health and enhance the quality of their medical experiences. Finally, we will integrate these efforts into a centralized online resource repository, offering subtitled recordings of core courses, bilingual terminology databases, high-quality thesis analyses, and exemplary writing samples—creating an accessible ecosystem for self-directed learning.

Execute: Coordinated Advancement and Precise Implementation

At the implementation level, the success of the blueprint relies on meticulous partner selection and execution strategies. We draft proposals based on our design concepts and ideas, first sharing them with familiar international student groups. Moreover, through listening and observation, we have refined and supplemented the proposal's content based on the actual needs of international students. Simultaneously, we submitted this plan to the university’s International Education Office and collaborate closely with the international student department and student unions to secure official support and achieve resource integration.

Assess: Multi-Method Evaluation and Long-Term Tracking Mechanism

To scientifically measure effectiveness, the Assess phase employs a multi-faceted approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative metrics include tracking changes in average scores and failure rates on key courses for participants versus non-participants, measuring workshop attendance rates and resource platform usage, and assessing improvements in academic confidence through pre- and post-surveys. Qualitative assessment delves deeper by organizing cultural salons and individual interviews to gather firsthand observations and narratives from students, mentors, and instructors, while directly analyzing shifts in student assignment quality. We have established a long-term tracking mechanism to observe the program's sustained impact on student internships and career development

Learn: Iterate evaluation guidelines to form an optimization loop

Ultimately, all efforts should be directed toward learning and iteration, forming a continuous optimization loop. At the end of each semester, we plan to systematically analyze all evaluation data to identify which modules are most effective, which needs remain unmet, and what new challenges have emerged. Based on these findings, we will implement rapid iterations. We will distill proven approaches into best practices, not only for internal refinement but also for sharing with the broader educational community. This enables the support system to evolve dynamically, delivering lasting benefits to every cohort of students.Here is the iterative plan for the action design:

1. Service Capacity and Scalability:

2. Information Transparency and Accessibility:

3. Depth and Accuracy of Professional Medical Terminology:

4. Insufficient Data-Driven Outcome Evaluation:

Socioeconomic status

In China, while great progress has been made in reducing poverty, many regions still face significant socio-economic barriers that make it difficult for science to reach them, especially in primary care. In Guangdong, for example, tertiary hospitals are highly concentrated in major cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, while less than 20% of healthcare resources are in counties and rural areas, with significant gaps in disease prevention and scientific knowledge. To this end, our team divided into two groups: Professor Shen Chenguang led undergraduate students to carry out medical science education in rural areas of Renhua County, Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, and Professor Li Ling led master's degree and doctoral students into the Dabie Mountain Revolutionary Area of Xinyang City, Henan Province, to carry out medical consultations, to bring professional health knowledge into the countryside, and to bring science and medical treatment to the most needy places.

Against the backdrop of China's rural revitalisation strategy, the construction of "healthy villages" has become a key link in improving the quality of life of rural residents and consolidating the gains from poverty eradication. However, through in-depth research in rural areas, we have found that the rural health sector faces many challenges.

Inclusion begins with understanding. Based on the realities of the countryside, our design philosophy is "localised, precise and appropriate".

In order to further build the health protection of the old revolutionary areas and make up for the shortcomings and weaknesses of grass-roots medical care, the team organised and held a preparatory work co-ordination meeting to seriously summarise the effectiveness of the volunteer medical missionary work in recent years and the experience of the summer activities in Kashgar, Xinjiang and Ganzi, Sichuan, and at the same time, based on the previous analysis of the current situation of medical and health care development of the Dabie Mountain area, to formulate a basic work plan of the activities of the three rural areas in a targeted manner.

The team communicated with the community staff to fully understand the demographic structure, health status and actual needs of the community, and worked together to formulate a locally tailored service plan, laying a solid foundation for the precise implementation of the series of services. We chose to go into the homes of the residents, and through face-to-face interviews, we understood their health conditions in detail, explained the key points of influenza protection, and distributed the "epidemic prevention kit" at the same time.

True inclusion requires proactive action.

Sticking to the position: working in high temperatures and solving problems

The Dabie Mountain clinic took Guangshan County of Xinyang City as the fulcrum, covering seven townships in Guangshan County, Luoshan County and Duochuan County. In the face of persistent hot weather and high-intensity work rhythm, the team members always maintained high work enthusiasm and concentration, insisted on combining medical services with health education, carried out timely multidisciplinary consultation and analysis of complex problems, and tried their best to solve the medical problems of the local inquiring masses, and strived to provide high-quality medical services for the masses in the old revolutionary areas.

Precision Service: Dual-track Medical Treatment and Health Promotion

The team members have rich clinical experience in their respective fields of specialisation, and the high-level and high-intensity clinical training they received in large tertiary hospitals provided a strong guarantee for this clinic. They provided high-level diagnosis and guidance to the public from the specialties of skin trauma treatment, Chinese medicine, cardiology and critical care, orthopaedics and trauma, and public health and prevention. The team members worked closely with medical experts from both inside and outside the university to provide scientific rehabilitation programmes and preventive healthcare guidelines for local people while providing guidance on diagnosis, treatment and medication for common diseases in the region, and summarised and fed back the typical cases and treatment suggestions to local village doctors and town health hospitals in a timely manner, so as to provide reference guidelines for the follow-up treatment of the patients.

In life and death, taking responsibility as a medical doctor

When the team was carrying out volunteer medical activities, a 70-year-old grandmother was waiting for medical treatment when she suddenly suffered from chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness and trembling of hands. After careful questioning of the patient's medical history, physical examination, and combining with the patient's past conditions, the experts preliminarily judged that she was an acute exacerbation of chronic heart failure. On-site medical team members quickly collaborated to implement emergency treatment measures, and the patient's symptoms were initially relieved. Then the team sent the patient to the county people's hospital, upon arrival, and the receiving doctor handed over the patient's onset of the disease and the emergency measures that have been implemented, for the follow-up precision treatment to win valuable time.

"This seamless life relay across the township and county levels vividly illustrates the mission and responsibility of medical workers, "people first, life first", and also provides a heart-warming example of grass-roots emergency rescue collaboration.

Sympathy for Veterans, Household Physical Examination

During the clinic, the team went deep into the homes of veterans to deliver medicine and visit them. Members of the medical team accompanied the veterans, checked their health conditions, and delivered high-quality in-home diagnostic and treatment services as well as well-prepared souvenirs. They carried out medical check-ups for the elderly in their homes, patiently answered their questions about health, and used professional medical services to make them feel the care and respect of society for veterans.

Proactive Care: Reaching the Edge, Warming Homes

We pay special attention to low-income and needy families in the community. We take the initiative to visit them at home. In addition to providing basic blood pressure measurement services, we also explain to them the key points of influenza protection, and even send them daily necessities such as rice and cooking oil, as well as a well-prepared "influenza prevention kit", so as to extend medical care to the most needy groups. This is not only material support, but also conveys the message that "your health is equally important, and the knowledge of scientific protection belongs to you".

Diversified science popularisation: innovative forms

To reach residents of different age groups, language habits and backgrounds, diversified forms of science popularisation were used, with special emphasis on language accessibility:

Child-friendly: Games were designed for children in the community and mini-classes on children's health were organised. Through interactive games and scenarios, children learnt about influenza protection in a relaxed atmosphere and became family "health monitors", thus increasing the participation of residents.

Dialectology: This is our key strategy! We train team members who are fluent in the local dialect. During the campaign, we used the dialect to promote the campaign. This dramatically removed the language barrier for older villagers and significantly increased their level of understanding and participation.

Flexible Scenario: A "Mobile Science Station" was set up in a community square with a high flow of people in the evening, distributing health brochures on influenza protection and explaining them in detail, as well as equipping the public with professional medical equipment to measure their blood pressure and experienced doctors to conduct on-site counselling in order to protect the health of the residents.

Authoritative Explanation: Eliminating Doubts and Building Trust

Inclusion also means eliminating barriers and misunderstandings in scientific knowledge. Professor Shen Chenguang organised a "Popularisation of Vaccine Knowledge Lecture" for the villagers, explaining vaccine-related knowledge in a systematic, authoritative and easy-to-understand manner, and patiently and carefully answering the villagers' common concerns and doubts. This effectively raised the level of scientific knowledge of the residents and their trust in vaccination, and was a key step in ensuring that the fruits of science benefit the public in a fair manner.

Team members exchanged and discussed after the activity, gained insights into the current situation of primary healthcare and the effectiveness of the help, deepened the understanding of serving the grassroots and contributing to the society, assessed the effectiveness of the service, and promoted the building of an inclusive community.

Outcomes and impacts: the power of inclusive practice

This practice is a vivid illustration of iGEM's philosophy of inclusiveness: science should not be confined to the laboratory, but should actively reach out to the community across age, economic, geographic, and cognitive differences to ensure that everyone, especially the underprivileged, has equal access to the right to health knowledge and services. We show how young researchers can use their expertise and innovative approaches to actively break down barriers, so that science can truly warm hearts and take root at the grassroots level, contributing to the youthful power of building healthier and more equitable communities.

Inclusivity within the team

Team members

Our multicultural team consists of members from all over the world with different skin colours and ethnic backgrounds, including Arabs, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Tujia, Hmongs and Han Chinese. With 86% of our team being female, we are better able to consider women's rights in science. This diversity enriches our perspectives and enhances our ability to respond inclusively to challenges. By bringing together individuals from different cultural backgrounds, we foster a collaborative environment that values unique perspectives and experiences. Every team member contributes to our strength, enabling us to address issues with a broader, more inclusive mindset.

Interdisciplinary Teams:

Modern science is both highly differentiated and highly integrated, while interdisciplinary science combines differentiation and integration to achieve scientific convergence. Interdisciplinary science is a product of synthesis and interdisciplinarity, and is conducive to solving major complex scientific, social and global problems faced by mankind.

Our team consists of students from different disciplines such as clinical medicine, preventive medicine, basic medicine, dentistry, bioinformatics, pharmacy, artificial intelligence, mobile development, and software technology. This diversity helps to stimulate a meeting of minds and continued innovation.

United Schools Team

Our team was initiated by Southern Medical University, and has united several schools, including Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou Medical University, Zhaoqing Medical College, and Guangdong Food and Drug Vocational College, among which there are world top-ranked comprehensive universities, medical colleges with a long history and strong resources, and universities that are supported by the state for key constructions, and we have jointly built up a platform for resource exchange and cooperation.

As the three outstanding schools in Guangzhou, Southern Medical University, Sun Yat-sen University and Guangzhou Medical University have many co-operations for common development.

Among other things, in order to address regional development imbalances and uneven distribution of resources (e.g., educational opportunities, access to services, and access to resources), Southern Medical University has assembled a support team to assist the Zhaoqing Medical College in a variety of ways. Through this mutually beneficial partnership, Southern Medical University and Zhaoqing Medical College have demonstrated how support and collaboration can lead to significant progress for both institutions.

Guangdong Food and Drug Vocational College, a thriving national high-quality specialised higher vocational college, will be exposed to cutting-edge advances in synthetic biology for the better with the platform of iGEM.

Through multi-university cooperation, we can achieve the following: we can achieve the following:Group photo of the team from Southern Medical University supporting Zhaoqing Medical College

Achieve interdisciplinary integration:

Through the formation of research teams in the fields of basic medicine, clinical medicine, pharmacy, etc., we aim to promote interdisciplinary integration and form complementary research strengths, reflecting the interdisciplinary spirit of iGEM.

Building a "Collaborative Talent Development" System:

Through joint talent development programmes, such as undergraduate and master's degree integration programmes and student exchange programmes, we provide students with a broader learning platform and emphasize iGEM's commitment to talent development. In addition, we implement a summer internship programme where students undertake research internships in the laboratories of partner universities to enhance their practical experience and research capabilities.

Research Collaboration:

The support team facilitates the establishment of shared laboratories and research centres, promotes the sharing of research resources, and strengthens collaboration among researchers in synthetic biology and related fields, reflecting the spirit of shared research at iGEM. In addition, the support team regularly organises joint research projects, invites researchers from both sides to apply for national and international research grants, and promotes high-level research results.

Achieving Equal Access to Educational Resources:

The support team promotes the opening of course resources and online education platforms to benefit more students from both universities, reflecting the principle of iGEM's equitable access to educational resources. In addition, student exchange programmes have been established and academic seminars are held regularly to promote interaction and cooperation among students and remove barriers brought about by the unequal distribution of educational resources.

Through this process of support, both institutions ultimately benefit and achieve a win-win situation. Southern Medical University not only supports Zhaoqing Medical College, but also realises its own growth and progress. For example, by jointly undertaking national research projects, the two research teams can present their results on a high-level platform and enhance their research capacity and innovation. At the same time, sharing resources and best practices improves the overall quality of education. In addition, this support programme helps the two institutions to establish a wider academic and professional network, increasing opportunities for future collaboration.

Team Building

"We can do very little alone; we can do a lot together. Team building is highly valued and we owe our success and harmony to it. When we bond with each other, when we realise our responsibility for the project, and when we develop a sense of belonging to the team, we naturally give our full attention to the research. We hope that all future iGEM teams value team building, which undoubtedly contributes to productivity and, most importantly, to building valuable relationships.

Summary: maximising inclusiveness

Through these measures, our team has succeeded in increasing the participation and representation of people from diverse backgrounds in scientific research.

We have addressed the plight of women in influenza; bridged the gap between scientific knowledge and resources by building accessible research pathways for people with disabilities; educated the public about important diseases to draw attention to them so that patients can receive better treatment; channelled cutting-edge scientific research and healthcare resources to underdeveloped regions; and eliminated language and information barriers for international students so that scientific knowledge reaches a wider audience.

These efforts not only enhance the scientific value of the programme, but also lay a solid foundation for building a more inclusive and equitable scientific community. We hope that through these practical actions, we can inspire more people to learn about iGEM, and we can inspire more people to participate in scientific research, so that everyone's voice can be heard, and everyone has the opportunity to be a force for change in the world.