Andrew Mackenzie

🎄 Lovely evening in parliament celebrating UK science at the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee Christmas Reception.

👍Great too see members from all over the world join us for our award ceremony and member forum. And the highlight was a fabulous President’s Lecture from Dame Sally Davies on leadership, influencing policy, and tackling antimicrobial resistance

🥳🍾🎈What a fantastic day at the @roysocmed.bsky.social to kick off @physoc.bsky.social 150th anniversary celebrations!

Huge credit to Lloyd’s Register Foundation for investing in the long term advancement of safety, prevention and learning. Exciting and important things to come!

There is also a clear role for physiology, particularly in understanding human limits, stress, fatigue, heat, and risk exposure, and how these shape real world safety outcomes in complex systems. These are areas @physoc.bsky.social explored at the the Global Climate & Health Summit earlier this year

There is a clear emphasis on evidence as a public good. Safety decisions are often made under pressure, with high stakes and complex trade offs. Improving access to robust, trusted evidence is essential if we are serious about reducing avoidable risk at scale.

The ambition of the new centre is clear and timely. They want to strengthen how evidence is generated, shared and used to prevent harm across sectors that underpin everyday life, from infrastructure and transport to energy and maritime.

A real pleasure to support the launch of the Lloyds Risk Register new Global Safety Evidence Centre last night - and what a beautiful, historic building!

🎉 Tomorrow at our Member Forum we begin our 150th year celebrations, by looking ahead to the next discoveries physiologists are advancing: how the body responds to the impacts of climate change, the transformational potential of precision medicine, & unlocking the opportunities of AI in healthcare.

🔬It was in this world that The Physiological Society was founded. Over the 150 years since, our members have transformed understanding of how the body works, laying the foundations for many of the advances in health and medicine we now take for granted.

💡Most people lived without electricity, antibiotics, or reliable sanitation. Average life expectancy in the UK was little over 40, driven by high infant mortality and the constant risk of infectious disease.

❓Why am I posting a photo of Queen Victoria? Because 150 years ago, Victoria was on the throne, Charles Darwin was still alive, Florence Nightingale was reshaping ideas about health and care, and Alexander Graham Bell had only just patented the telephone…

Translating Knowledge and Research into Impact

Chimes with a report by @physoc.bsky.social & NCUB: the challenge is not the appetite to engage, but the lack of consistent structures, incentives & pathways to translate knowledge into sustained real-world impact.
www.physoc.org/policy/knowledge-exchange/translating-knowledge-research-into-impact/

State of the Relationship report 2025 - National Centre for Universities & Business NCUB’s annual State of the Relationship report is an evidence tool to strengthen collaboration between universities and businesses.

That points to something structural: we have built a system that is good at pushing ideas out, but much less good at pulling them into widespread use, scale and productivity growth.

Read the report here:

www.ncub.co.uk/insight/stat...

State of the Relationship report 2025 - National Centre for Universities & Business NCUB’s annual State of the Relationship report is an evidence tool to strengthen collaboration between universities and businesses.

Collaboration remains a real strength of the UK system, but the report is clear that momentum has slowed. Activity is still there, but growth has levelled off and the depth and value of partnerships are under pressure.

A really insightful launch of @ncub.bsky.social State of the Relationship report today.

And congratulations to the Openness Award winners. The Awards recognise best practice in openness on animal research. I’ve really enjoyed being on the judging panel over the last few years and this year had so many strong nominations.

Fantastic evening at @rcphysicians.bsky.social for the @animalresearch.bsky.social Paget Lecture with Sarah Gilbert. A really great lecture on the development of vaccines against outbreak pathogens.

The Five Levers For Change: a Blueprint to Phase Out Fossil Fuel Advertising A Practical Framework to Phase Out Fossil Fuel Advertising View the Blueprint The advertising and media industries are at a turning point. In this report, The Five Levers For Change: a Blueprint to...

You can read more about the levers of change here: www.actclimatelabs.org/advertising-...

What role does advertising have on driving climate action?

That was the key question at event this week on the work of ACT Climate Labs on supercharging climate communication, and the launch of their five levers of change to phase out fossil fuel advertising.

So the signals from government are encouraging. The real test will be whether the foundations of the research system, and disciplines like physiology, are given the support they need to deliver.

For areas of science like physiology, this is so important. Core, discovery-led research on how the body works is essential to everything from healthcare innovation to climate resilience, but it depends on stable departments, long-term funding and a strong pipeline of skilled researchers.

It’s positive to see continued investment in research and innovation, particularly in areas like AI. That clear sign of intention from the government matters. But this comes at a time of growing financial pressure on universities, which underpin the UK’s entire research system.

💰The morning after the night before….some reflections on what yesterday’s budget means for UK R&D.

A fantastic celebration of physiology as part of #PhysiologyWeek today at @londonmetuni.bsky.social! Great to see so many young people enthusiastic to learn about science.

A quick run up Calton Hill before leaving Edinburgh…a beautiful city, especially at sunset!

Global Climate and Health Summit The 2025 Global Climate and Health Summit placed physiology and partnerships at the heart of climate and health. Read more

Find out more: globalclimateandhealthsummit.org

3 takeaways from my presentation:

• Climate change is already harming health.
• Our bodies have tight physiological limits, and a warming climate is pushing more people beyond them.
• The climate crisis is felt first in the body, which is why climate action must start with protecting health.

A fantastic day yesterday at Science and the Parliament talking to MSPs, scientists and students about the impact of climate change on health - and highlighting the work of @physoc.bsky.social in driving action in this area.

Physiology Week Welcome to The Physiological Society! Join our membership and supportive community of 3500+ physiologists for valuable benefits to help grow your career.

🥳 Fantastic Physiology Week so far - check out the map below for events taking place near you.

www.physoc.org/physiologywe...

@physoc.bsky.social