Just who is Alexis Willett?
Well, where do we begin? There's so much I could tell you but so little space.
The back cover of my new book (more on this later) describes me as: 'a science communicator and specialist in biomedical science who spends much of her time turning cutting-edge research and health policy jargon into something meaningful for patients, doctors, policy makers and the public'. It's a fair summary but I'm guessing you're hoping for a little more detail, so here you go...
I like writing about all sorts of things and dream that one day I’ll have written a huge number of best-selling novels, but for now I tend to write about human health. I run my own consultancy that provides science communication and health policy research support to health organisations (mainly charities). I did this kind of work for others before I set out on my own. Over the years I’ve been involved in all sorts, from Downing Street receptions, parliamentary events, TV interviews and multimillion pound fundraising galas, to challenging decision-makers, a secondment to the Department of Health, lecturing in human biology, and fielding calls in a nutrition research press office. I've worked with healthcare professionals, scientists, politicians, patients, the general public, celebrities, the media and construction workers. My work has taken me all over the place from muddy trenches in the Suffolk and Welsh countrysides, to bustling cities across the UK, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain and the US. I'm currently based in the picturesque university town of Cambridge, UK.
While I originally trained and worked as an archaeologist, specialising in human and animal bones, after a few too many cold, rainy days in the field, I applied for a PhD studentship at the University of Cambridge to study the bones of the living, rather than the dead. My PhD focused on osteoporosis, involving biochemistry, genetics, statistics and nutrition. After that, I decided that a purely research career wasn’t for me but communicating science and health information to effect change was much more up my street. Hence, what I do now.
That's enough of my background so how about a few random facts? I've hovered 80 feet above a Saxon burial ground, driven a tractor, raced a Segway, represented the East of England at a national football tournament, randomly introduced body percussion during a business meeting and been evacuated by air ambulance from Bermuda to Canada!
The back cover of my new book (more on this later) describes me as: 'a science communicator and specialist in biomedical science who spends much of her time turning cutting-edge research and health policy jargon into something meaningful for patients, doctors, policy makers and the public'. It's a fair summary but I'm guessing you're hoping for a little more detail, so here you go...
I like writing about all sorts of things and dream that one day I’ll have written a huge number of best-selling novels, but for now I tend to write about human health. I run my own consultancy that provides science communication and health policy research support to health organisations (mainly charities). I did this kind of work for others before I set out on my own. Over the years I’ve been involved in all sorts, from Downing Street receptions, parliamentary events, TV interviews and multimillion pound fundraising galas, to challenging decision-makers, a secondment to the Department of Health, lecturing in human biology, and fielding calls in a nutrition research press office. I've worked with healthcare professionals, scientists, politicians, patients, the general public, celebrities, the media and construction workers. My work has taken me all over the place from muddy trenches in the Suffolk and Welsh countrysides, to bustling cities across the UK, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain and the US. I'm currently based in the picturesque university town of Cambridge, UK.
While I originally trained and worked as an archaeologist, specialising in human and animal bones, after a few too many cold, rainy days in the field, I applied for a PhD studentship at the University of Cambridge to study the bones of the living, rather than the dead. My PhD focused on osteoporosis, involving biochemistry, genetics, statistics and nutrition. After that, I decided that a purely research career wasn’t for me but communicating science and health information to effect change was much more up my street. Hence, what I do now.
That's enough of my background so how about a few random facts? I've hovered 80 feet above a Saxon burial ground, driven a tractor, raced a Segway, represented the East of England at a national football tournament, randomly introduced body percussion during a business meeting and been evacuated by air ambulance from Bermuda to Canada!
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My first book, How Much Brain Do We Really Need?, a popular science book about (surprise, surprise) the brain, was published on 7th December 2017.
It's pretty good. You should probably buy a copy. |