Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Health and Social Care and lead of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) – the nation’s largest funder of health and social care research – visited campus to meet researchers from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.
Professor Chappell met with Senior Investigators from across the faculty to hear about some of Liverpool’s world-leading research, including work on infectious disease, health inequalities, women and children’s health and cancer. Also discussed was the University’s pioneering research response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the evaluation of the UK government’s Liverpool mass testing pilot and the ISARIC Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium.
Professor Chappell later took part in a Q&A session with Early Career Researchers, with topics covering the government’s future health and social care research focus, the post-pandemic funding landscape, and career development. As part of her advice to researchers, Professor Chappell stressed the importance of being open to all opportunities, seeking out diverse collaborators and looking for ideas and opportunities in different areas and geographic locations.
The visit was hosted by Professor Tom Walley, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Clinical Research at the University of Liverpool, who said: “The University of Liverpool has been very successful in attracting NIHR and other government funding, in particular in helping the national response to the pandemic but also in responding to local health needs. Lucy’s visit affirms our role in this.”
