Blackett Lecture 2022

7 December | 16:00 to 18:45

Prince Philip House
3 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5DG

It is our pleasure to announce this year's lecture will be given by The OR Society's Vice President Professor Christina Pagel. Prof Pagel is widely known for her position within Independent Sage which helped advise the British government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reserve your FREE place here

Talk title: "UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic: the vicious circles, the brilliant science and where science was not enough"

Christina Pagel will discuss 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 will highlight how there was much brilliant science to tackle the pandemic but uncoupled from other expertise and responsive policy and without a systems approach, some major issues were never resolved.

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.