Q&A: What’s it like being the Chief Scientific Advisor in a pandemic?
Dame Angela McLean is the Chief Scientific Adviser for the Ministry of Defence. She advises the government on science and technology decisions and has spent the past year working on some of the most important matters in the country.
Dame Angela McLean was appointed in September 2019, only a few months before the pandemic started. With a background in researching new infections, her expertise has been well used (and welcomed) by her colleagues across government.
What was your most difficult day during the pandemic?
“I do find the run up to the big decisions really difficult. Really difficult. That’s because of the sense of responsibility. Is the decision going to be a good decision? If it isn’t, is it because we’ve failed to explain what might happen?
And then there are the good days, two of them so far, when hospital admissions turn over. It’s always a couple days after the actual peak in hospital admissions that you know it’s really going down and it’s not just a weekend effect or something: those are great days.”
It’s safe to say the UK are much more aware of SAGE, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, than one year ago. This committee advises ministers and officials with evidence-based scientific advice in emergencies.
What’s it like being part of Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)?
“Attending SAGE is a really fantastic experience. It’s a really collaborative, collegiate space — it’s so clear that there is this urgent task. It’s really how science should be done. People talk about their science, other people ask them questions.
To be a good adviser you really need to understand what the person you are trying to advise is thinking.”
Do you think this pandemic will have an effect on the number of women going into science and technology subjects?
“I was speaking to a colleague recently who said her 4 year old had walked into the room and said ‘I don’t want to be a princess anymore, I want to be a scientist.’ That really made my heart sing. The further you go in science careers, the fewer women there are. We want all four year olds, both boys and girls, to want to be scientists when they grow up.”
Did you have any female role models?
“My mum’s a doctor, my grandmother was a doctor, my aunt is a statistician. Perhaps I was very lucky that it never occurred to me that science wasn’t a thing for women.”
What would you say to people wanting to join this field?
“It’s important for people to know that this is worth working hard for. Lots of people who study STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics) subjects find the mathematics hard. You just have to stick at it basically, it is the language of science, you need it to do the bits of the science you love.”
How did you get into this career?
“I did an undergrad in maths. I was taught mathematical biology by a wonderful man called Jim Murray. I did a PhD at Imperial College London in Mathematical Biology, then I got a Research Fellowship.
One of the things the UK does really well is hand out independent Research Fellowships to quite young scientists so you can have an independent career from quite a young age. I was very lucky to get one of those, which was terrific.
I had an academic career teaching and doing research at Oxford University, where I got interested in how governments use science. When the job at the MOD came up I applied forit, and here I am.”
