Biological Warfare has begun since 2019; diverse military units including USA's came back from Wuhan War Games in Oct. 2019.

In the final episode of our season, Science Advice & Government, host Dr Rob Doubleday is joined by Sharon Peacock, Director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) Consortium and Professor of Public Health and Microbiology in the Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, and James Wood, Head of Cambridge Vet School and infectious disease epidemiologist.

The episode explores how science advice has been used in the UK's response to the current COVID-19 pandemic and what lessons can be learnt to help prepare for future pandemics.  

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Season 5 is produced in partnership with the research project Expertise Under Pressure, Centre for the Humanities and Social Change at the University of Cambridge.

CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast is hosted by CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday, and is edited and produced by CSaP Communications Coordinator Jessica Foster. Research for this series is supported by CSaP Policy Researcher Nick Cosstick.

Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.

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Resources relevant to this episode (click on the below): 

COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium. COG-Train. Exercise Cygnus.
Sign up to our CSaP newsletter by clicking here.

Science Advice & Government: Future Pandemics

Podcast host Rachael Webster is joined by Diana Domingues to introduce the exciting world of radiotherapy and answer the most common question that we hear from our patients: "What is radiotherapy?". Rachael and Diana also explain how radiotherapy works and address some of the common misconceptions. We hope this episode helps to alleviate some of the anxieties that surround radiotherapy and gives you a broader knowledge about this treatment. 

Diana is a Senior Therapeutic Radiographer in the Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, UK. She has been qualified since 2011 and has recently completed her MSc in Radiotherapy Practice with her dissertation focusing on the impact of metabolic imaging in head and neck cancer treatment.

For more information about radiotherapy treatment, please visit the Cancer Research UK website at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/radiotherapy/about

All About Radiotherapy

What is radiotherapy?

In this two-part episode, podcast host Rachael Webster talks with two of our amazing patient representatives, Hilary and Neil. Hilary and Neil have both worked in radiotherapy departments in years gone by, in radiotherapy physics and as an oncologist respectively. They share their experiences of what radiotherapy has been like from the 1970s to the present day, including the old techniques and how technology has been pivotal in the advancement of radiotherapy planning. They also share what it was like to come back to radiotherapy for treatment as patients many years later, and how they felt during this time. It is a privilege for us to have them on our podcast!

History of radiotherapy part 1

History of radiotherapy part 2

In this episode, three of Addenbrooke's Hospital's therapeutic radiographers, Daniel Driver, Cristina Ferreira and Poppy Howe, discuss their roles and how they are important to patients coming in for radiotherapy. Therapeutic radiographers are specialists trained specifically in radiotherapy planning and delivery. We are so lucky to be able to pin down three of Addenbrooke's finest who all work together, but in different ways, to ensure the safe and accurate delivery of radiotherapy treatment.

Daniel is one of our Radiotherapy Treatment Floor Radiographers, meaning that he is someone who patients will see daily for radiotherapy. Daniel also looks after our student radiographers from the University of Suffolk, UK, offering support and guidance throughout their training.

Cristina is our Head of Technical Operations in Radiotherapy, meaning that she is in charge of implementing new techniques into the Addenbrooke's Radiotherapy Department and provides leadership across the Department for our radiographers.

Poppy is our Advanced Practitioner for Breast Radiotherapy, and her work focuses on breast cancer treatment. She is a pivotal person for patients with breast cancer as she helps in the planning, reviewing and supportive care of this patient group whilst they are undergoing radiotherapy and afterwards.

Meet our radiographers

Dr Hannah Chantler and Katie Hutchinson talk to us about their roles in planning radiotherapy treatment and how this fits into the patient pathway. Hannah is our Head of Radiotherapy Planning, working closely with leaders in the Radiotherapy Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK, and guiding the planning team, whilst Katie is one of our leaders in dosimetry. They explain the importance of radiotherapy planning right from the beginning of the patient pathway, and highlight the interesting ways that they found out about radiotherapy as a career option.

Meet our planning team

Andrew Robinson and Ian Dulgarn talk to us about the roles of a physicist and radiotherapy technician, and the importance of these positions in our Radiotherapy Department. The Radiotherapy Physics Department at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, UK, plays a vital role in ensuring the safety and accuracy of radiotherapy treatment, and makes sure that the radiation is delivered exactly as planned. Our physicists and technicians work closely together, knowing the precise working of our machines – linear accelerators, or LINAC for short.

Meet our physicists

Dr Yvonne Rimmer and Dr Saif Ahmad talk to us about their roles as clinical oncologists in radiotherapy and what their roles mean to patients coming in for cancer treatment. Clinical oncologists undergo years of continued training and learning to become specialists in the field of radiotherapy and for a specific part of the body. They work closely with our radiographers, physicists and planning team, and with many other members of the wider multi-disciplinary teams such as surgeons, nurses and dieticians (to name a few) so that each patient has an individualised treatment plan tailored specifically for their needs.
 
Yvonne is a Clinical Oncology Consultant for urological cancer, which includes prostate and bladder cancer. She is also a Specialist Research Lead for radiotherapy clinical trials for Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the wider region of the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) for East of England, UK.

Saif is a Clinical Oncology Consultant, primarily treating people with breast cancer, and also works with CRUK RadNet Cambridge investigating why certain tumours respond to radiotherapy whilst others do not.

Meet our oncologists

In the final episode of this series, we speak to Katy Cooper, Suzanne Miller and Cathy Philpot from our research team. Radiotherapy research is critically important for the advancement of radiotherapy practice, whether this is in the way we deliver radiotherapy or how we can use it in combination with other treatments such as immunotherapy or chemotherapy.

Katy is part of the Cambridge Clinical Trials Centre at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who oversee the planning, running and recording of clinical trials for radiotherapy. Katy's role is key in assessing patients to join clinical trials right through to their follow up and the dissemination of results, ensuring that every patient's contribution is valued and recorded.

Suzanne works for CRUK RadNet Cambridge in a similar role to Katy. She has been pivotal in the planning of applications for funding for large-scale, multi-centre trials within our team.

Cathy works in translational research for radiotherapy breast cancer trials with CRUK RadNet Cambridge. She works closely with patients with breast cancer and has been involved with an exciting new trial looking at drug combinations for patients who may not have been suitable for radiotherapy.

Meet our research team

Rory Cellan-Jones and leading experts Gordon Harold, Laura Nurski and Zoe Purcell discuss why mental wellbeing in the workplace is essential, and what policymakers can do to promote a healthy workforce.

This episode unpacks the impact of the future of work on mental wellbeing, and its implications for policy. Leading experts discuss the major trends shaping the future of work, how job quality and AI impact wellbeing, and whether it is the job of businesses or governments to promote positive mental health at the workplace. 

This episode is hosted by Rory Cellan-Jones (former technology correspondent for the BBC), and features guest experts Professor Gordon Harold (University of Cambridge), Dr Laura Nurski (Bruegel) and Dr Zoe Purcell (Institute For Advanced Study in Toulouse). 

Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform

Season 2 Episode 2 transcript

For more information about the podcast and the work of the institutes, visit our websites at https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.iast.fr/.

Tweet us with your thoughts at @BennettInst and @IASToulouse.

Audio production by Steve Hankey.
Podcast production by Stella Erker. 

Relevant links and publications

The Future of Work Partnership between the University of Cambridge and KPMG
Nurski, L. and M. Hoffmann (2022) ‘Beating burnout: identifying bad jobs and improving job quality’, Policy Brief, Bruegel
Nurski, L. and M. Hoffmann (2022) ‘The impact of artificial intelligence on the nature and quality of jobs’, Working Paper, Bruegel
More information about our guests:

Wellbeing at work – whose job is it to fix it?

Darwin’s tiny, priceless Tree of Life sketch is arguably the most iconic drawing in the history of science. 

“The Tree of Life notebooks are Darwin at his most radical,” says Professor Jim Secord, a world expert on the subject. “The theory of natural selection and evolution is the foundation stone of modern biology and much of the rest of the sciences.”

However, the notebooks were stolen in the early 2000s and were missing for two decades before their anonymous return in a pink gift bag on March 9, 2022 – alongside a very odd note!

Despite an investigation that involved the Met Police, Interpol and a global public appeal, we still don’t know who took Darwin’s notebooks or why.

But why would someone steal them in the first place? What makes Darwin’s Tree of Life notebooks so important that someone saw fit to spirit them away from Cambridge University Library then return them again – 20 years later.

In this first podcast from one of the world’s great libraries, you’ll find out about the notebooks’ great importance, the endlessly curious life and letters of Charles Darwin, and the end of a nearly 50-year mega project to transcribe and publish 15,000 letters to and from Darwin – making them freely available to us all.

With guests Professor Jim Secord and Stuart Roberts, Head of Communications at Cambridge University Library. Hosted by communications specialist Sue Keogh FRSA. For more information about Darwin’s life and letters, please visit https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/

Science Advice & Government: Future Pandemics

University of Cambridge

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