Professor of Experimental Neuroimmunology, Jessica Teeling has spent a week in the House of Commons with Southampton Itchen MP, Royston Smith as part of a pairing scheme run by the Royal Society.
As well as shadowing Mr Smith and finding out about his work, Professor Teeling attended seminars and panel discussions about how scientific evidence is used in policy-making. She also sat in on a mock Select Committee.
The purpose of the visit was to give Professor Teeling a behind-the-scenes insight into how policy is formed and how her research into systemic inflammation and dementia can be used to make evidence-based decisions.
Professor Teeling said:
“I feel delighted and privileged to be taking part in this very worthwhile scheme. It was fascinating to discover more about the working lives of our elected representatives 鈥� and, more importantly, have the opportunity to build bridges between the very different worlds of scientific research and government policy-making.”
Mr Smith will get first-hand experience of Professor Teeling鈥檚 work when he makes a reciprocal visit to the University of Southampton next year.
The , which started in 2001, aims to build bridges between parliamentarians, civil servants and some of the best scientists in the UK.
The scheme is supported by the Government Science and Engineering (GSE) Profession, managed from within the Government Office for Science.
