Available Events

Professor Peter Abrahams is a Life Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge, Prof. “Emeritus” of Clinical Anatomy, Warwick Medical School, UK National Teaching fellow 2011; and visiting Prof, NTU Singapore. He is author of over 30 books.     

A British Fulbright Scholar in Anatomy, he was a NHS GP for 45 years and has lectured doctors and surgeons worldwide.  He has been recognised with the BMA Electronic Publishing Prize, the Richard Asher Prize of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Farquharson award of the RCSED and is an “Honoured Member” of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists. 

His lecture will show how astute and accurate Leonardo da Vinci was and how he was one of the greatest anatomists ever to have lived.  He personally dissected more than thirty human corpses to explore every aspect of anatomy and physiology, and recorded his findings in drawings of unparalleled beauty and lucidity. Had he published his research, Leonardo would have transformed scientific knowledge of the human body.  Many of Leonardo’s drawings are strikingly similar to modern medical images illustrated in this lecture. 

His talk is entitled: Leonardo Da Vinci - A 15th Century artist whose concepts & original ideas anticipated 21st Century imaging

Thursday 5 December 2019, 4:00pm (refreshments will be served from 3:45pm)
MGS Memorial Hall
Admission free

We are delighted that this lecture is in partnership with MACFEST UK, the Muslim Arts and Culture Festival.  

Yass Al-Hassani  (OM 1991 – 98) completed an MSc. at the Manchester Business School. He is MD of 105solutions.com, a Management Consultancy specialising in the Business Intelligence industry. He is a Trustee of an educational Charity, the Foundation for Science, Technology & Civilisation, FSTC UK, FSTC.org.uk.  The Charity aims to collate & popularise the cultural roots of early inventions which still affect our modern world, in order to highlight the shared cultural & technological inheritance of humanity. It is non-political, non-sectarian & non-religious in approach. His passion for fast cars is driven into RAWautomotive.com, which specialises in upgrading performance cars. Yass is also a professionally trained actor & model featuring in numerous productions, commercials & corporate shoots.  You may recognise him from Peaky Blinders.

His talk is entitled: 1001 Years of Amnesia: 1001 Inventions

Thursday 23 January 2020, 4:00pm (refreshments will be served from 3:45pm)
MGS Memorial Hall
Admission free

Dr Louise Karwowski is product owner for Cognassist, a tool that profiles brains and supports thinking and learning. Her previous jobs working with neurodiverse learners and disabled students and completing a doctorate in quantum mechanics have provided a platform to her work for Cognasssist.                                              

Her talk is entitled: The benefits of profiling your brain

Thursday 6 February 2020, 4:00pm (refreshments will be served from 3:45pm)
MGS Memorial Hall
Admission free

Sami Hussein, B.Sc. describes himself as a 'defected terrorist and defected politician'.  A Muslim, he was born in Iraq, has lived in Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries, and has spent the last 27 years in the UK.  His vast knowledge of the Middle East brings to the talks a unique depth and understanding of the conflict and of the mind-sets of those who contribute to it.

Jonathan Taylor B.Sc.(Hons) graduated as a chemical engineer from Imperial College of Science. He has an in-depth knowledge of Israel, its language and its culture. He is an experienced lecturer on the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli cultural affairs, and the history of the UK Jewish community.

Title: Peace Through Knowledge: Both Sides of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Thursday 12 March 2020, 4:00pm (refreshments will be served from 3:45pm)
MGS Memorial Hall
Admission free

Ivan Lewis MP was born and grew up in Manchester.  He was first elected to parliament in 1997 for Labour.  He served under Blair and Brown as the Minister for Care Services, then Minister for International Development, and for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. In December 2018, he resigned from Labour due to the ‘institutionalised anti-Semitism’, himself being Jewish.  This year he became the first person in history to speak in parliament wearing a skullcap.  He supports LCCC, Manchester City and was involved in trying to save Bury FC.  He used to play in the Jewish Cricket League.

His talk is entitled: Politics Today

Thursday 19 March 2020, 4:00pm (refreshments will be served from 3:45pm)
MGS Memorial Hall
Admission free

Dr Alan Goodman has a BSc in Chemistry from Manchester and an MSc in Meteorology from Reading.  He also has a PhD in Cloud observations from Liverpool. He joined the Met Office in 1990 as a forecaster.  He is currently the Met Office Advisor for NW England.  Alan lives in Manchester and his interests include fell walking, cricket, singing, landscape photography and Cumbrian local ale. 

His talk is entitled: "It's all up in the air"

Thursday 26 March 2020, 4:00pm (refreshments will be served from 3:45pm)
MGS Memorial Hall
Admission free

Tom Skinner grew up in Sale and has been a campaigner and network-builder in Manchester for over 15 years, leading successful student campaigns, being elected General Secretary of the University of Manchester Students' Union, teaching courses on campaigning and politics, and coordinating the Greater Manchester Living Wage Campaign, which has won pay rises for thousands of low-paid workers. For the last three years, he has been Co-Director of Greater Manchester Poverty Action, where he manages projects such as the Food Poverty Alliance to address poverty across the city region.

His talk is entitled: How to change the world when it seems too big

Thursday 23 April 2020, 4:00pm (refreshments will be served from 3:45pm)
MGS Memorial Hall
Admission free