The Science Media Centre is not restricted to reacting to the headlines, and has helped scientists to more proactively set the agenda by bringing new science or evidence to journalists. This comes from our regular briefings, which take a variety of forms and cover a wide range of topics. Many are background briefings introducing journalists to the best experts and science on controversial issues like nuclear waste, nanotechnology, emerging diseases, or animal research, for example. They may also be news briefings where the SMC works with scientists to give the national media a new story on developments within science, whether it’s a report on climate change, a paper on stem cells being published in a leading journal, or science funding cuts in the latest budget. In addition, the SMC encourages leading experts to ‘speak out’ to the media about developments they believe may pose a threat to scientific research – not something science has been renowned for.
A new Royal Society report explores how the internet is transforming the way we share and consume information and the … read more
There is some very early UK data looking at hospitalisations in children with Covid-19, comparing Omicron to Delta. The data … read more
There is growing interest in alternative proteins, both in their source, use and nutritional profiles, and whether they can provide … read more
The REACT-1 team from Imperial College London has now completed round 16 of their study looking at virus prevalence across … read more
The new report (Report 50: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/covid-19/report-50-severity-omicron/) from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team estimates hospitalisation risk for Omicron cases … read more
The EAVE II (Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19) project has been tracking the COVID-19 pandemic in near … read more
Imperial modelling has come out which looks at: Imperial Report 49: Growth, population distribution and immune escape of Omicron in … read more
A national study called The Platform Adaptive trial of NOvel antiviRals for eArly treatMent of covid-19 In the Community (PANORAMIC), … read more
Launched in summer 2020, the PHOSP-COVID study aims to understand and improve long-term health outcomes for patients who have been … read more
Scientists undertook a self-controlled case series to investigate the risk of developing of myocarditis, pericarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias within 28 … read more
Scientists running the COM-COV study have done some preliminary analysis of neutralising antibody titres against the omicron variant, from samples … read more
Modellers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have produced some modelling looking at omicron and potential transmission … read more
Clinical trials can deliver pioneering new treatments for cancer patients – so why are so many people missing out on … read more
In June we heard from the team running the COM-COV trial giving results of mixed vaccine schedules on the immune … read more
New research, from a team from Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London and published in Science, looks … read more
The House of Lords opened an inquiry into Risk Assessment and Planning in October 2020. They have assessed UK government planning … read more
This final quarterly report from Dr Raghib Ali, the government’s independent adviser on COVID-19 and ethnicity, brings together, for the … read more
COV-BOOST is a blinded, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial investigating safety and immunogenicity of seven COVID-19 vaccines as a … read more
The use of genome editing technologies in the breeding of farmed animals could potentially offer some new ways to help … read more
The EAVE II (Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19) project has been tracking the COVID-19 pandemic in near … read more
