Author: Philip Fowler

We ran a session at the Philosophy in Pubs Oxford group in April 2024, discussing where the moral lines can and should be drawn around the use of data about us. Who does the data really belong to? What are legitimate uses of it? What are the factors that make people uncomfortable? And are they justified? We had a very interesting discussion with around 16 people from the local Oxfordshire area, covering questions such as “Does the idea of the public good ever outweigh an individual’s right to control how their data is used?”, “Is it correct that any data that is “about” us also “belongs” to us, even if we did not create it, nor have any use for it ourselves?”, and “Does it change things if the data is completely anonymised or is there still a general rule about self determination that applies?”

It was really interesting to hear how different people viewed these questions very differently, not just in the field of healthcare data but also more generally. You can find out more about Philosophy in Pubs Oxford events here.

We are looking for new members to join our existing patient and public group and work with us to make sure that public views on how we run our research are heard and acted on.

For more information, please click here.

If you are interested, please return the application form available through the link above by 5pm on Thursday 21 March 2024.

You can read all about our latest Zooniverse project, InfectionInspection, in New Scientist (15 March 2023 issue).

This citizen science project is part of a larger project developing a new way of diagnosing infections resistant to antibiotics and brings together researchers from Medical Sciences, Physics and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and is funded by the Oxford Martin School.

Science Together is a series of workshops and events being held at the Oxford Museum of Natural History on Tue 7 June 2022. Events start at 10.30am and run until 5pm.

From 5-7pm you can find out more about some of the projects through Science on the Sofa where Oli Moore will talk to some of scientists behind the different public engagement projects on display during the day, including our very own Carla Wright and Emma Pritchard!

You can register to attend in person, or follow the livestream, via this link.

Professor Sarah Walker has been Principal Investigator of the ONS Covid Infection Survey since it started in April 2020. By regularly testing random samples of the UK population for infection and Covid antibodies, this has provided hugely valuable information as the Covid pandemic has progressed and has helped inform public health policy.

You can listen to her talk about the survey in the first episode of the new Statistically Speaking podcast by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), along with other people heavily involved in the survey.

Listen to Professor Tim Peto be interviewed on Radio 4’s PM programme about the UK validation of SARS-CoV-2 lateral flow tests. You’ll need to go to about 15 minutes in to hear the start of the piece.