TV nutrition and health experts raise a glass to science at Cambridge’s Pint of Science festival

TV nutrition and health experts raise a glass to science at Cambridge’s Pint of Science festival

Craig Brierley Wed, 05/13/2026 - 08:55

This year’s festival (18-20 May) will see twice as many events taking place across the city as last year and will be the largest edition of the festival since the pandemic.

Included in the festival is a special one-off, sold-out event – A Conversation on Nutrition and Health (7:30pm, 3 June, Cambridge Junction). There, broadcasters Professor Chris van Tulleken (author of Ultra-Processed People) and Professor Giles Yeo (author of Why Calories Don’t Count) join Dr Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed (2017 winner of the BBC's MasterChef, author of The 20-Minute Gut Health Fix) to talk ultra-processed foods, weight management injections, nutrition and health.

One of the coordinators for this year’s festival is Dr Chris Bannon from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Metabolic Science, which is heavily involved in the three events at Calverley's Brewery & Taproom. He will be speaking at Gut Feelings (7pm, 19 May, Calverley's Brewery) – which will include a guest appearance from his life-size knitted gut, which he uses to demonstrate how foods pass through (and out of!) our digestive systems.

Chris said: “Pint of Science is a fantastic event where scientists present their work to the public in creative ways. From Francis Crick and James Watson announcing at The Eagle that they’d discovered ‘the secret of life’ to David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian working out in The Panton Arms how to sequence our DNA faster than ever, pubs have played an important role in Cambridge’s scientific discovery. So, it’s fitting that pubs across the city are hosting Pint of Science, with established and student scientists sharing their findings with the public.

“This year we’ve been very ambitious, with our one-off event at the Junction and a greater number of venues than last year. We’ll be looking at everything from the hunt for life beyond our Solar System to extreme weather events to how to map the brain. Whatever you’re interested in, there’s bound to be something here that will make you think – and possibly even make you laugh.”

Among the highlights this year are:

• All Molecules Great and Small: Life at the Molecular Level (7pm, 18 May, Cambridge Brew House) – An introduction to the tiny molecules that shape our health and wellbeing, help our bodies function, communicate and fight disease.
• What Our Stuff is Made of and Why it Matters (7pm, 18 May, Sir Isaac Newton) – A look at how everyday products shape our health, our environment, and our future.
• Feeding the Future, Fighting Infection (7.15pm, 19 May, Thirsty Cambridge) – From the hidden biology of breastmilk to tools borrowed from dangerous bacteria, this event explores how microscopic interactions shape lifelong health.
• Hidden Histories, Unseen Heroes: Through Time & Science (7pm, 20 May, The Tivoli) – A world of hidden stories and unexpected discoveries, exploring our planet from its deep past to its uncertain future.
• Health and wellbeing! (7pm, 20 May, Sir Isaac Newton) – A look at how scientists are reshaping the future of transplantation, from universal donor blood to improving how hearts are assessed, transported, and ultimately saved.

The talks run from 18-20 May 2026. Tickets are available on the Pint of Science website, but are selling out fast.

Institute of Metabolic Science

Chris Bannon and his knitted gut

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