Science historian and Guardian science blogger, Vanessa Heggie (@HPS_Vanessa) has written a fascinating piece about how AIDS activists among others changed the way we run clinical trials and persuaded researchers to adopt new methods. That's certainly the history lesson passed down to me as Chair of INVOLVE by previous members. They will tell you that, before we ever talked … Continue reading The Medical Research Council (MRC) is ‘a good egg’ and that’s the issue
DNA
The competition/chugging/hunt/fight [delete as inappropriate] for your DNA has only just begun…..
The BBC is this morning running a story on its online health pages about the launch of the UK Personal Genome Project - a UK subsidiary of a US initiative - and its 'hunt' for 100,000 volunteers to share their DNA to help fight disease. Like others, I am not sure I feel totally comfortable about … Continue reading The competition/chugging/hunt/fight [delete as inappropriate] for your DNA has only just begun…..
250 words on Genomics England
So this feels to me as though common sense has been snatched from the jaws of defeat at the feet of academia. The initial announcement of a 'genome mapping initiative' by the Prime Minister in December was followed by not very convincing noises about the shape of things to come. Indeed, I fired off a … Continue reading 250 words on Genomics England
Blog: We have the public to thank for this week’s well-informed decisions in health research
We have had two pieces of good news about health research of patient benefit this week. First, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued new guidance saying that tamoxifen or raloxifene taken daily for five years can cut breast cancer risk by 40%. This means women at risk of developing breast cancer have … Continue reading Blog: We have the public to thank for this week’s well-informed decisions in health research
Guest blog: update on public engagement at ‘The Crick’
Some time ago I invited John Davidson, Communications Director at the Francis Crick Institute, to send a piece about their public engagement activities and plans. This is what he sent me earlier this week. It seems somehow fitting with a weekend upon us...... ......There will be large queues waiting patiently but excitedly outside the site … Continue reading Guest blog: update on public engagement at ‘The Crick’
Simon Denegri's Lay Review 