CSaP Annual Lecture: Professor Dame Sally Davies

What does it take to achieve science-informed policy?: the case of antimicrobial resistance

Fisher Building, St John's College, 11 February 2020

The 2020 CSaP Annual Lecture was delivered by Professor Dame Sally Davies, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge and a former Chief Medical Officer for England and Chief Medical Adviser to the UK Government.

In her lecture, Dame Sally Davies gave a first-hand account of what it takes to get the right science to inform the right policy questions at the right time. To see the development of policy through from initial framing of the question to implementation requires patience, luck and determination. Dame Sally tells the behind-the-scenes story of her work on AMR, drawing lessons for scientists, civil servants, politicians and others committed to evidence-informed policy.

A summary write-up of her lecture can be found here.

Professor Dame Sally Davies has been Master of Trinity College since 2019, having been Chief Medical Officer for the previous nine years. Appointed in 2010, Dame Sally was the first female Chief Medical Officer. She worked in the NHS as a consultant haematologist for 30 years, before joining the Civil Service in 2004. Dame Sally became Director General of Research and Development for the NHS, created the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and later played a central role in the establishment of Genomics England. She is best known for successfully paving the way for international and domestic efforts in the fight against antimicrobial resistance and leading the UK government’s response to health emergencies including Ebola, pandemic flu, and the Novichok attacks.