The Nuffield Department of Medicine recognises that public engagement is vital to educate, inform and build relationships with the community. Our scientists are actively engaging in open discussion, meeting people to debate, listen and learn. Our series of evening lectures at Science Oxford Live, as part of the Healthy Season in spring 2013, was a great success. We are grateful to all of our speakers: Dr Julian Knight (Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics), Professor Tim Key (Cancer Epidemiology Unit), Professor Adrian Hill and Dr Simon Draper (Jenner Institute), Professor Chas Bountra and Professor Stefan Knapp (Structural Genomics Consortium), and Dr Dianne Newbury (Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics) for contributing to five memorable evenings.