It’s been 100 days since the Academy of Medical Sciences’ new President took office – and for over two-thirds of this the UK has been in lockdown. We recap Professor Dame Anne Johnson’s key achievements so far.
She’s stood up.
Dame Anne has laid out her priorities for her new role, standing up for a stronger national medical academy and better health for patients.
She is building on what we can learn from COVID to strengthen research and resilience in the NHS, and co-started a collaboration on climate change across the national academies.
She continues to champion COVID-19 careers policy work and a better research culture, pushing to support the researchers most vulnerable during COVID, and recently launching the new cohort of SUSTAIN, the Academy’s programme for mid-career women in science.
She’s reached across.
Dame Anne has connected through the Academy Fellowship, across the healthcare sector, to the wider public.
She’s met over 200 Fellows from across the UK on a seven location virtual tour and met over 20 key leaders from charities to industry. She’s reinforced networks across government, meeting three ministers and regularly connecting with the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Advisor. And she’s working to build the UK’s future relationship with the EU through Horizon Europe and beyond.
She is combatting misinformation and celebrating the role of the wider public in tackling COVID-19. In weekly broadcast and print interviews in national and international press, she emphasises the public are the first people we must thank for constantly sticking with the changes to daily life.
“There is no one solution to this pandemic: it’s only the combination of everyone’s efforts that will let us succeed.”
She’s opened up.
Dame Anne opened up on BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific about her work during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, national sex surveys, and her doubts on becoming a doctor. She’s led with honesty, talking about consequences of COVID for mental health and for young people, pandemic fatigue and her resilience strategies (long walks, good food and family!).
And she has powered home the need for stronger financial foundations to keep the Academy a truly independent voice, raising over £15,000 through our Christmas appeal – enough to support two policy workshops, or ten new mentoring pairs.
You can contribute one-off donations to the Academy’s work and join our Helix Group supporter’s circle here. 100 days is just the start: we have a lot more work to do.