14 November 2023
We were proud to host Professor Sir Jonathan Van Tam at the BIR Annual Congress earlier this month. Sir Jonathan received the BIR/Aidence Mayneord Memorial Award and prior to receiving the award Sir Jonathan (who is Senior Strategy Advisor in Medicine, University of Nottingham) gave the eponymous lecture titled “Science, policy and leadership during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic”.
In his engaging and entertaining talk, Sir Jonathan explained how the Government and science community faced and overcame the biggest health challenge of a lifetime, coped with the challenges and responses at different times of the pandemic, how teamwork and collaboration were crucially important and explored what lessons we can take in the future. He emphasised the importance of British science and government working together and the crucial role of the UK vaccines task force. He concluded the talk with some salutary advice on leadership and strategy, together with an overview of the functional anatomy of the infamous “Number 10” press briefings during the pandemic.
He was presented with his award by Professor Stephen Keevil, President of the BIR and Lloyd O’Mahony, Business Development Manager, Aidence.
Professor Stephen Keevil said “We were honoured to present this award to Sir Jonathan Van Tam, who has been commended for his expert knowledge and clear communication style during the pandemic. It was fascinating to get a personal insight into strategy, leadership and communications during this extraordinary and challenging time.”
