Mr Oliver Francis

Head of Strategic Communications at MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge

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Head of Strategic Communications, MRC Epidemiology Unit

Oliver is responsible for the design, delivery and support of impact-related work at the MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge. This includes traditional and social media, the application of evidence-based products and services, and the promotion of knowledge exchange and partnership between researchers, practitioners, policymakers, the public and other groups. The goal is that the department’s evidence and methods can be used to develop, improve and evaluate policy and practice, and continue to be guided by the population needs of public health, wellbeing and sustainability. He is also a co-investigator on a number of research projects, and teaches evidence communications and policy engagement skills on the Cambridge Population Health Sciences MPhil.

Before taking his current role, Oliver was Knowledge Broker for the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), leading on communications and work with policy and practice. Prior to joining CEDAR, Oliver was Head of Internal and Corporate Communications at Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust. In his time there he worked across a number of communications disciplines: press and PR, stakeholder relations, internal communications, web and social media. He was also a member of the Trust’s service improvement team, safety awareness action group, and was involved in policy and governance development. In 2007-8 he was seconded to the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. Previously, Oliver worked as a researcher for television documentaries and in feature film development, and continues to work as a freelance writer. www.oliverfrancis.net

MRC Epidemiology Unit

https://www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/people/oliver-francis/