We are Genomics England and our vision is to create a world where everyone benefits from genomic healthcare. Join us every fortnight, where we cover everything from the latest in cutting-edge research to real-life stories from those affected by rare conditions and cancer. With thoughtful conversations, we take you behind the science. You can also tune in to our Genomics 101 explainer series which breaks down complex terms in under 10 minutes.
Episodes
Wednesday May 26, 2021
Rebecca Skippage: Disinformation and the evolution of news
Wednesday May 26, 2021
Wednesday May 26, 2021
“The news media can do a lot better. Frankly, we need to reflect and represent different communities, and produce material that is more relevant to people who don't necessarily come from privileged backgrounds. Because I think that the way to engage people is to tell stories that have relevance to their lives, rather than this paternalistic ‘we speak, you listen’ approach we see now.”
In this week’s episode of The G Word, Chris Wigley is joined by Rebecca Skippage, News Editor and Anti-Disinformation Lead at the BBC. Having spent much of her career tackling misinformation, in 2020 she also founded a fellowship at Reuters Institute, established to explore best practice in communicating with global audiences and to encourage people to utilise public service media networks.
Today, Rebecca discusses why people from less privileged backgrounds are significantly less likely to turn to news media, how the BBC combats fake news and the importance of social listening. She also talks about her eye-opening report ‘The role of public service media in the fight against disinformation’ and touches on the usefulness of WhatsApp and other similar media platforms.
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Professor Pali Hungin: The human element
Wednesday May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19, 2021
“The human element is going to become increasingly important. In the presence of high-level technologies, machine learned algorithms and highly personalised precision medicine - perhaps based on genomics - in the presence, even, of all those items, it will be the contact between care delivery and the care receiver that will remain important.”
In this week’s episode of The G Word, Chris Wigley is joined by Professor Pali Hungin, former GP and president of the British Medical Association, emeritus professor at Newcastle University and researcher in gastroenterology and associated clinical and psychological factors. Having received an OBE for services to research in 2000, Pali has spent much of his career attempting to bring about positive change, establishing and leading the Changing Face of Medicine project at the Academy of Medical and Royal Colleges and sitting on the Access Review Committee at Genomics England.
Today, Pali discusses the need for radical change in medicine, suggests clinicians should be armed with genomics and AI, and champions technological advancements in healthcare. He also discusses his work with the Changing Face of Medicine project and offers some advice for young people hoping to get in to medicine.
Wednesday May 12, 2021
Dr Andrew Roddam: Changing health research for the better
Wednesday May 12, 2021
Wednesday May 12, 2021
“Today we still have a significant number of people who are suffering ill health in later life, and often suffering it because we're diagnosing conditions led to them. We’re getting to people and treating them when they end up with things like stage three or four cancer or dementias; we only pick them up at the point when they start to be clinically visible. And it's really difficult to start to treat those individuals at that point.”
In this week’s episode of The G Word, Chris Wigley is joined by Andy Roddam, renowned epidemiologist and Chief Executive Officer at Our Future Health. Having earned his doctorate degree in Statistics from The University of Oxford and completed a post-doctorate in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Andy has held several roles across both academia and industry, principally focusing on the application of epidemiological methods to advance the understanding of human disease.
Today, Chris and Andy discuss health data and how best to collect it, interventional research, personalised treatment and the importance of predictive prevention.
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Dr Melanie Lee: Putting the patient at the heart of the mission
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Wednesday May 05, 2021
“If we wrap our missions around the patient and have early connections with them, I believe the data packages we pass on to those developing a product will be much richer, and diagnostic development may be much shorter - 2-3 years rather than 25 years.”
This week on The G Word, Chris Wigley is joined by Dr Melanie Lee, CEO of medical research charity LifeArc. LifeArc translates promising scientific innovations into well-informed products for the benefit of patients. LifeArc are currently supporting a number of COVID-19 studies, including the GenOMICC Study, in partnership with Genomics England.
Today, Chris and Melanie talk about engaging with different communities to identify the right problems, and discuss why receiving a diagnosis, even if there isn't necessarily a direct link to treatment, can be so important.