By Claire Sand,
Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, King’s College London

The Access to
Understanding competition had instant appeal for me because it seemed to
combine my two greatest interests – science and writing. I have always been
fascinated with the human body (particularly in disease), and am currently
working on my PhD in cardiovascular research, but having been an avid reader
all my life, I have an equally strong interest in language and semantics. I’ve
often thought of medical journalism as a potential future career option, but
never had the opportunity to test my skills and gain feedback from readers
outside of academic science. Placing in the top three has provided me with
validation that this is a viable path to take, and I feel encouraged and
inspired to pursue this type of writing further.

Coming from a
family of non-scientists I have always been keen to share exciting discoveries
(whether my own or others’) in terms that won’t be off-putting. In addition to
the personal satisfaction that can be gained from sparking scientific interest
in non-experts, I also believe that this type of public engagement is essential
on a number of other levels. I have often found non-scientists to be refractory
to hearing about research because they have preconceived notions that they
won’t understand, or that they are being patronised. Science as a profession
(and especially animal research) seems to be shrouded in mystery, and is
generally viewed at best with disinterest, and at worst with suspicion.

When people ask
me what I do for a living, my reply of “I work in medical science” is often met
with “Oh right” and a rapid change of subject – people don’t seem to have a
concept of what this job actually involves, and are usually not particularly
keen to find out, or don’t know what questions to ask. At first this reaction
surprised me: medical breakthroughs always elicit great public excitement (and
praise of doctors), but I am becoming increasingly aware of an information
‘black hole’ in medical progress; many people are entirely unaware of the years
of lab work that go into understanding a disease and developing new drugs to
target it. This is, more than anything, the result of poor communication by
scientists. In a time where money for research is more and more difficult to
come by, we as scientists should be trying to get people excited about our
research. Raising awareness of the origin of medicines, and engaging with both
the public and policy makers is the only way to ensure the future of scientific
funding. I am hopeful that down the line the efforts of public engagement
schemes like Access to Understanding will demystify the process of medical
research and will open more doors into the extraordinary and awe-inspiring
world of science.