Please join us for the third panel discussion in our roundtable series on the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to welcoming Carol Porteous (Patient Public Involvement Lead at Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility, University of Edinburgh), Professor Albert Tenesa (University of Edinburgh), and Professor Felicity Callard (University of Glasgow)

Please see below for details and registration.

Abstract

The role of citizen knowledge in the governance of COVID is the focus of the final roundtable of the series. Despite the overwhelming shock, pain and losses experienced by populations all over the world – or perhaps because of them – people were quick to react to an unprecedented situation. Either in collaboration with researchers or in an autonomous and uninvited way, records were made, testimonials were given, and social media platforms were used to report, gather and use information in a multiplicity of ways. But what is the value of this vast ‘data bank’ beyond contributing to our collective memory of the past two years and how can it be used to complement or integrate data collected via traditional ways? Further, the definition of Long Covid as a medical condition is unequivocally linked to the active mobilisation of those suffering from it. On the other hand, projects calling for Long Covid sufferers to donate their data were a common feature of the pandemic, blurring the lines between individual and collective, private and public. This roundtable will promote discussion and reflection on the value of citizen knowledge in navigating the pandemic and making sense of the contradictory advice and recommendations emanating from politicians, policymakers and scientists. We will also look at citizens’ contribution to establishing the evidence-base for Long Covid and the extent to which SARS-Cov-2 may have ignited transformative change in citizen/patient involvement models and practice.

Speakers

Carol Porteous is the Patient Public Involvement Lead at Edinburgh Clinical Research Facility. Having worked in PPI in research for many years, Carol is passionate about exploring the values and value in PPI activities. She has held a variety of positions including PPI Advisor at UCL, PPI Lead for the Research Design Service London, based at King’s College London and worked in clinical trials at Moorfields Eye Hospital’s Biomedical Research Centre.

Professor Albert Tenesa (University of Edinburgh) studied agricultural engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia before coming to Edinburgh to study an MSc in Quantitative Genetics and Genome Analysis. He then carried out his PhD in quantitative genetics under the supervision of Peter Visscher and Sara Knott at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Edinburgh. After a postdoc with Professor Malcolm Dunlop he became a group leader at the Roslin Institute (where he holds a joint appointment). Albert’s research at the MRC-Human Genetics Unit aims to understand how genetic variation contributes to phenotypic variation of complex traits in humans.

Albert is investigating how our genes make some of us more susceptible to certain diseases, such as cancer, than others. In the long term this research could be used to predict what diseases individuals are prone to and at what age they are likely to develop them. With this information better drugs and preventative treatments could be developed.

Felicity Callard is a professor of human geography at University of Glasgow where much of her research addresses mental health both in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. She contributes to the interdisciplinary field of medical humanities and has a particular interest in patient experience and patient-produced knowledge. She also has a commitment to interdisciplinarity as a practice and an object of study (and is co-author, with Des Fitzgerald, of Rethinking Interdisciplinarity Across the Social Sciences and Neurosciences). Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 she has been part of a broad international community of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 who identified and have been advocating in relation to Long Covid.

The roundtable will take place  20 April, 5-6.30pm, Violet Laidlaw Room, 6^th floor, CMB.

To attend this event, you must please register using our Eventbrite page. You can also view details of this event on our website and stay up to date with our activities on Twitter.

Link to the Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skape-covid-roundtable-iii-tickets-604993821807

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This event will take place in person at the University of Edinburgh, Violet Laidlaw Room, 6^th floor, CMB.