Blackett Lecture 2022

Our annual Blackett Lecture was held on 7 December 2022 at Prince Phillip House in London. The OR Society's Vice President Professor Christina Pagel, who is widely known for her position within Independent Sage which provided analysis and advice during the COVID-19 pandemic, presented a talk entitled "UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic: the vicious circles, the brilliant science and where science was not enough"

Christina discussed how the fundamental nature of COVID-19 transmission and illness led to a vicious circle of repeating waves of infection, disproportionately affecting those in more deprived communities. She highlighted how there was a great deal of brilliant science in play to tackle the pandemic but uncoupled from other expertise and responsive policy and without a systems approach, some major issues were never resolved.

View our 2022 Lecture:

Our 2022 Lecturer

Prof Pagel is also Professor of Operational Research and Director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London, using mathematical tools to support the delivery of health services and runs a large programme to understand and communicate outcomes in congenital heart disease. She is co-director of the new UCL CHIMERA hub where researchers examine anonymised data to develop a better understanding of how people’s physiology changes during intensive care.