CSaP's Annual Lecture series began with a talk by John Beddington (GCSA from 2008 until 2013). Lectures since then have included Chris Whitty (2017), Ed Humpherson (2019), Sally Davies (2020), Angela McLean (2021), Indro Mukerjee (2022) and Sarah Sharples (2023).

Dr David Cleevely was CSaP’s Founding Director from its inception in 2009 until he stepped down in 2015. We are very grateful to David for supporting and giving his name to this lecture series.

Please see below links to summary reports of each lecture.

2024 CSaP Annual Cleevely Lecture: Dr Dave Smith, National Technology Adviser

The next CSaP Annual Cleevely Lecture takes place in Cambridge on 24 April 2024, and will be delivered by Dr Dave Smith, National Technology Adviser, Department for Science Innovation and Technology.

2023: Future of Transport: Decarbonising a complex system

Professor Sarah Sharples, Chief Scientific Adviser in the Department for Transport, delivered the 2023 annual lecture on the Future of Transport. Her talk emphasised the importance of collaboration between government, industry and academia to collectively tackle the complex, multifactorial challenges facing the transport network.

2022: The time for innovation: why there has never been a greater opportunity to focus on innovation

In his talk, Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Innovate UK, discussed Innovate UK’s Plan for Action, which sets out the key themes, commitments, and approaches that determine how innovation must be used to create and sustain a positive future for our society and economy.

2021: How to be a Chief Scientific Adviser in government

Professor Dame Angela McLean, former CSA in the MOD, discussed what it was like to be a Chief Scientific Adviser in a role that is critical in defence while also being involved in the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020: What does it take to achieve science-informed policy? The case of antimicrobial resistance

In her lecture, Dame Sally Davies, a former Government Chief Medical Officer, gave a first-hand account of what it takes to get the right science to inform the right policy questions at the right time.

2019: How to stop bad data driving out the good in an age of misuse, misleadingness and misinformation

The UK Statistics Authority is the champion of statistics and data serving the public good – to allow the good data to shine out and be used, appropriately and with confidence, to inform the public. Ed Humpherson, Director General in the UKSA, discussed the UKSA’s role in this data rich environment and highlighted the central role of trustworthiness.

2017: Changes in health 20 years out: where science meets policy

There will be profound changes in health and disease over the next 20 years. The causes, demography and geography of ill health will shift significantly whilst the trend of demand for healthcare growing more rapidly than GNI is likely to continue. This lecture by Professor Chris Whitty discussed how it can predict, and help respond to, the policy challenges that will follow over the next 2 decades.