On the 17th March 2021 we held the second webinar in our Early Career Researcher (ECR) Lunchtime Seminar Series. This webinar was on how to engage with the policy as a researcher. We had some amazing speakers sharing their top tips including; Dr Benedict Wilkinson - Director of Research at The Policy Institute (King's College London), Alasdair Love - Clerk to the Communications and Digital Select Committee (House of Lords), Dr Vivienne Moxham-Hall - Research Associate at The Policy Institute (King's College London), Dr Brynmor Lloyd-Evans - Associate Professor at the Division of Psychiatry (University College London) & Deputy Director of the NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit and Dr Claire Wilson - MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow (King's College London). This webinar was hosted by VAMHN Co-lead Dr Helen Fisher (King's College London). To watch the webinar recording click below. Click through the tabs below to access extra resources and slides from our speakers.
Speaker Presentations and Resources
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Claire Wilson
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Alasdair Love
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Benedict Wilkinson
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Vivienne Moxham-Hall
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Brynmor Lloyd-Evans
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About Claire:
Claire Wilson MRCPsych PhD is a Psychiatry Specialist Registrar and clinical researcher in the Section of Women’s Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Her expertise is in psychiatric epidemiology, having worked on a number of large UK and international birth cohorts to investigate the intergenerational transmission of risk for mental health and disease. She is particularly interested in how multimorbid physical and mental ill health and substance misuse come together in the preconception and perinatal periods to shape offspring outcomes across generations. She is also a keen educator and the academic secretary for the Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group of the UK’s Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Claire will discuss her experiences of working as a Research Fellow at the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). She will give an overview of how Parliament works, how the work of POST supports policy making and how researchers can influence decision making in Parliament.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:04:08 to hear Claire's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @drclairewilson
Web: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/claire-wilson
Slides:
Claire Wilson MRCPsych PhD is a Psychiatry Specialist Registrar and clinical researcher in the Section of Women’s Mental Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Her expertise is in psychiatric epidemiology, having worked on a number of large UK and international birth cohorts to investigate the intergenerational transmission of risk for mental health and disease. She is particularly interested in how multimorbid physical and mental ill health and substance misuse come together in the preconception and perinatal periods to shape offspring outcomes across generations. She is also a keen educator and the academic secretary for the Women and Mental Health Special Interest Group of the UK’s Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Claire will discuss her experiences of working as a Research Fellow at the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). She will give an overview of how Parliament works, how the work of POST supports policy making and how researchers can influence decision making in Parliament.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:04:08 to hear Claire's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @drclairewilson
Web: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/claire-wilson
Slides:

Parliament and Research - Claire Wilson VAMHN Presentation.pdf | |
File Size: | 1631 kb |
File Type: |
About Alasdair:
Alasdair Love has worked as a Clerk in the House of Lords since September 2018, working on the Bribery Act 2010 Select Committee; in the Legislation Office; as National Parliament Representative to the EU; and currently on the Communications and Digital Select Committee. As Clerk to the committee Alasdair manages the committee staff and advises the committee on parliamentary procedure.
In November and December 2019 Alasdair went on secondment from the House of Lords to the UCL Policy Impact Unit, based within the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy. Here he advised academics on their engagement with Parliament.
Alasdair earned a BA(Hons) in History from the University of Durham and an MPhil in Modern British History from the University of Cambridge.
This talk will cover how academics can engage with Parliamentary select committees. To the unfamiliar, select committees can seem daunting and often combative. However, once their mysteries are unraveled, it should become clear that they are keen to hear from a wide range of perspectives and from academics at any stage of their career. The talk will cover questions including: what is a select committee; who works on a select committee; how do select committee inquiries work; how can academics get involved; and what do select committees look for in evidence.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:39:49 to watch Alasdair's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @alasdair_love
Email: [email protected]
Extra resources:
Alasdair Love has worked as a Clerk in the House of Lords since September 2018, working on the Bribery Act 2010 Select Committee; in the Legislation Office; as National Parliament Representative to the EU; and currently on the Communications and Digital Select Committee. As Clerk to the committee Alasdair manages the committee staff and advises the committee on parliamentary procedure.
In November and December 2019 Alasdair went on secondment from the House of Lords to the UCL Policy Impact Unit, based within the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy. Here he advised academics on their engagement with Parliament.
Alasdair earned a BA(Hons) in History from the University of Durham and an MPhil in Modern British History from the University of Cambridge.
This talk will cover how academics can engage with Parliamentary select committees. To the unfamiliar, select committees can seem daunting and often combative. However, once their mysteries are unraveled, it should become clear that they are keen to hear from a wide range of perspectives and from academics at any stage of their career. The talk will cover questions including: what is a select committee; who works on a select committee; how do select committee inquiries work; how can academics get involved; and what do select committees look for in evidence.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:39:49 to watch Alasdair's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @alasdair_love
Email: [email protected]
Extra resources:
- Communications and Digital Committee webpage: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/170/communications-and-digital-committee/
- UCL Public Policy Blog. Select Committees 101: The Lords: https://medium.com/policy-postings/select-committees-101-the-lords-37d848fb863f
- UK Parliament, Committees: https://committees.parliament.uk/
About Ben:
Dr Benedict Wilkinson is Director of Research in the Policy Institute at King’s College London. He has conducted extensive research across numerous areas of public policy, with a particular focus on defence, security and foreign policy. He is highly experienced in translating research and evidence into policy impact, and has overseen the ESRC’s Impact Acceleration Account at King’s College London since 2016.
Prior to joining the Policy Institute, Ben completed an ESRC-funded PhD under Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman in the Department of War Studies. He has previously worked at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), where he was Head of Security and Counter-Terrorism, and at the Royal College of Defence Studies. He has written two books, his most recent on terrorism as a failed strategy which was published by Hurst and Oxford University Press in 2020.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:20:26 to watch Ben and Vivienne's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @drbenedictw
Web: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/benedict-wilkinson
Dr Benedict Wilkinson is Director of Research in the Policy Institute at King’s College London. He has conducted extensive research across numerous areas of public policy, with a particular focus on defence, security and foreign policy. He is highly experienced in translating research and evidence into policy impact, and has overseen the ESRC’s Impact Acceleration Account at King’s College London since 2016.
Prior to joining the Policy Institute, Ben completed an ESRC-funded PhD under Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman in the Department of War Studies. He has previously worked at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), where he was Head of Security and Counter-Terrorism, and at the Royal College of Defence Studies. He has written two books, his most recent on terrorism as a failed strategy which was published by Hurst and Oxford University Press in 2020.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:20:26 to watch Ben and Vivienne's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @drbenedictw
Web: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/benedict-wilkinson
About Vivienne:
Dr Vivienne Moxham-Hall is a Research Associate at the Policy Institute. She has experience working across government, NGO and academic sectors, as a Policy Officer the NSW state government health department, as Vice President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, and as a Board Director for the University of Sydney Union and Australian think tank Australia21.
Her thesis investigated the utility of composite indexes as a measure of drug policy and won the Dean’s award (Faculty of Medicine) for outstanding thesis. She also holds a Master of Health Policy, a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Arts majoring in immunology and philosophy respectively, from the University of Sydney.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:20:26 to watch Ben and Vivienne's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @v.moxhamhall
Web: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/vivienne-moxham-hall
Dr Vivienne Moxham-Hall is a Research Associate at the Policy Institute. She has experience working across government, NGO and academic sectors, as a Policy Officer the NSW state government health department, as Vice President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, and as a Board Director for the University of Sydney Union and Australian think tank Australia21.
Her thesis investigated the utility of composite indexes as a measure of drug policy and won the Dean’s award (Faculty of Medicine) for outstanding thesis. She also holds a Master of Health Policy, a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Arts majoring in immunology and philosophy respectively, from the University of Sydney.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:20:26 to watch Ben and Vivienne's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @v.moxhamhall
Web: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/vivienne-moxham-hall
About Brynmor:
Kirsty Walker is Director of UCL Media Relations. A former journalist, Kirsty spent the first 17 years of her career working for national newspapers on the Daily Express and Daily Mail – spending nearly 13 years of her career as a political correspondent based in Westminster. During her reporting career, she covered many world-changing events and traveled with successive British Prime Ministers reporting from places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, the White House and the Kremlin. Kirsty is an experienced broadcaster and has appeared as a political commentator on BBC BB2, ITV, Sky and LBC.
After leaving journalism, Kirsty worked for Westminster-based communications agency iNHouse Communications before joining the civil service as Head of Strategy and Communications, and then Secretariat Director, for the Social Mobility Commission alongside former chair the Rt Hon Alan Milburn.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:59:40 to watch Brynmor's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @UCLPsychiatry
Web: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/research/mental-health-policy-research-unit
Slides:
Kirsty Walker is Director of UCL Media Relations. A former journalist, Kirsty spent the first 17 years of her career working for national newspapers on the Daily Express and Daily Mail – spending nearly 13 years of her career as a political correspondent based in Westminster. During her reporting career, she covered many world-changing events and traveled with successive British Prime Ministers reporting from places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, the White House and the Kremlin. Kirsty is an experienced broadcaster and has appeared as a political commentator on BBC BB2, ITV, Sky and LBC.
After leaving journalism, Kirsty worked for Westminster-based communications agency iNHouse Communications before joining the civil service as Head of Strategy and Communications, and then Secretariat Director, for the Social Mobility Commission alongside former chair the Rt Hon Alan Milburn.
Time stamp:
Skip to 00:59:40 to watch Brynmor's presentation
Links:
Twitter: @UCLPsychiatry
Web: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/research/mental-health-policy-research-unit
Slides:

Brynmor Lloyd Evans - VAMHN Presentation | |
File Size: | 1369 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Panel Discussion
Skip to 01:17:44 to watch the panel discussion with all speakers.