How should science and research policy inform a future health and care system?

How should science and research policy inform a future health and care system?

Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department of Health and Social Care

Thursday 24 April 2025

5:30pm-6:45pm followed by drinks and networking

McGrath Centre, St Catharine's College, Cambridge

The 2025 CSaP Annual Cleevely Lecture will be delivered by Professor Lucy Chappell.

Science, research and innovation are critical to underpinning and evolving our health and care system. However, there are substantial headwinds that need to be overcome – including changing demographics, pressures on service delivery and the work force, systemic inequalities, and ingrained ways of working.

In her talk, Lucy Chappell will discuss how we can reimagine the health and care system so that it is informed and influenced by science. She will argue that excellent science on its own is not enough. Researchers and innovators should work with patients, commissioners and the healthcare workforce to actively coproduce priorities and insights and amplify impact. Science strategies cannot be designed in a bubble, and it has become more important than ever to align these with economic growth. Current metrics and rewards of R&D funding should be better aligned with health and care outcomes.

Lucy’s lecture will consider how we might drive this agenda forward – drawing on examples from the covid pandemic, development of diagnostic tests, and innovative cancer treatments – from bench to bedside and into global health.

Professor Lucy Chappell

Professor Lucy Chappell FMedSci is the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), with overall responsibility for the department’s research and development, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research.

How to register

If you would like to attend, please email annuallecture@csap.cam.ac.uk.

The Annual Cleevely Lecture Series

In 2021, the inaugural Cleevely Lecture was given by Angela McLean. CSaP's Annual Lecture Series began in 2011 with a talk by John Beddington (then GCSA). Lectures since then have included Chris Whitty (2017), Ed Humpherson (2019), Sally Davies (2020), Indro Mukerjee (2022), Sarah Sharples (2023) and in 2024 by Dave Smith.

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.