Annabelle South wins Provost's Public Engagement Award
14 Jun 2018
We are pleased to announce that Annabelle South, the Policy, Communications and Research Impact Coordinator for the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, has been awarded the UCL Provost's Award for Public Engagement in the Professional Services Staff category.
The award ceremony, which took place on 6 June 2018, recognised the fantastic work done by UCL's staff and students, and their community partners, to open up UCL research and teaching.
Laura Cream, Head of Public Engagement for UCL Culture said: "The selection panel were hugely impressed by the contribution you [Annabelle] have made, above and beyond the remit of your formal role, to public engagement with UCL research in the cancer and infections research field. The panel were struck not just by the breadth of the work you have undertaken but also by the imagination and innovation you have brought to your work and, fundamentally, to the commitment you have shown to partnership working at its core."
In 2016, in a partnership project with Cancer Research UK, Annabelle ran a series of roadshows around the UK for prostate cancer patients and their loved ones. The roadshows provided an important opportunity for patients and the public to speak directly to UCL clinical researchers.
Annabelle's work enables researchers to better meet the needs of patients through communication platforms, and helps to ensure that patients, their families and society know how important a contribution to science they are making by being part of a clinical trial.
Mahesh Parmar, Diana Gibb and Sarah Pett nominated Annabelle for the award.
"Annabelle's work really emphasises that clinical research is a true partnership with a common goal - to effect better outcomes for individuals, their family and society" said Diana Gibb and Mahesh Parmar.
About Annabelle South
Annabelle is the Policy, Communications and Research Impact Coordinator for the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit (MRC CTU) at UCL. Prior to joining the MRC CTU in 2011, she worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, working on an HIV treatment and care research programme with partners in Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and India. She has recently started work on a part-time PhD on communicating the results of clinical trials.
Annabelle's role is to communicate the results of the Unit's studies effectively, to maximise their impact on policy and practice. She works with trial teams on a wide range of studies in the UK and Africa, focusing on cancer and infectious diseases (particularly HIV and tuberculosis). She is a member of the patient and public involvement group at the MRC CTU, and is a passionate advocate for working in partnership with patients and community groups. She teaches about patient and public involvement and communicating trial results on the MSc in Clinical Trials and the BSc in Applied Medical Sciences.
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