PINT OF SCIENCE FESTIVAL
18-20 MAY 2026
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Bites & Brains: From Ticks to MRI Tricks
Ticks may seem small, but they can carry powerful pathogens. Learn how they spread disease and how to avoid them and then dive into how diffusion MRI reveals the brain’s hidden architecture, helping improve diagnosis and care.
Kisses with a twist of Lyme: risk of tick bites and Lyme disease
Víctor Luque Castro
PhD student
Spanish Wildlife Research Institute (IREC)
They are out there and they are waiting for you. Ticks are a type of bug that need blood to complete their life cycle, and you could be the source of their next meal. But it doesn’t stop there, since things can get kinky and escalate into a menage a trois! Ticks can transmit several pathogens through their bites, with Lyme disease being extremely relevant in the northern hemisphere. This makes knowing how to prevent their bites extremely relevant. Please join me on this chat to learn more about the biology of ticks, the diseases they can transmit (with a focus on Lyme disease) and how we can prevent them.
Imaging the Brain’s smallest features while you are using it
Patrick Fuchs
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Antwerp
Diffusion, first described by Albert Einstein more than 100 years ago, is the movement of molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. You may have observed this when dissolving a bath bomb, or when steeping a bag of tea in a cup of hot water.
Diffusion in human tissue reflects the interaction of many obstacles, such as cell membranes, fibers, and large molecules. We can measure this using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this talk I will explain how this works, as well as how we can then use the diffusion information to image microscopic structures and improve medical care, specifically in the human brain.
