Science and the Parliament 2009

The Science behind Health

The Royal Society of Chemistry hosted its annual Science and the Parliament event on Wednesday 11 November 2009 in Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh.

The theme of this year's event was looking at the relationship between science and health, and discussing a broad range of ways in which scientific developments contribute to better health.

The event aimed to bring together MSPs, civil servants, and a wide range of people from the scientific community in Scotland to inform decision makers of some of the important scientific endeavours that are taking place in Scotland.

Over 300 delegates attended, and over 30 scientific organisations had an exhibition display.

The event was chaired by the President of the RSC, Professor Dave Garner, and the Deputy First Minister of the Scottish Government, Nicola Sturgeon MSP agreed to give the keynote address. Ms Sturgeon is also the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.

Other major contributions to proceedings were made by Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Scottish Government, and Professor Karen Vousden, Director of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow.