Podcasts about UCAS

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Best podcasts about UCAS

Latest podcast episodes about UCAS

Intelligence Talks
Will Britain gain from post-Trump student surge?

Intelligence Talks

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2025 14:17


We explore how Britain could benefit from a rise in international students after Trump's second presidency. We also delve into the latest UCAS application data for 2025, plus key investment and development trends. Anna is joined by Neil Armstrong and Merelina Sykes, joint heads of Knight Frank student property.Produced by Ollie Peart at Rethink Audio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Housed: The Shared Living Podcast
Investing in the Future of Student Living, HMOs, Market Trends, Student Wellbeing PLUS Ask the Experts feature on the Renters' Rights Bill

Housed: The Shared Living Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2025 36:18


Send us a textSeason 3, Episode 10 of the Housed Podcast.Sarah Canning, Deenie Lee, and Dan Smith are back, discussing all things student living:- Why supporting student wellbeing shouldn't be competitive - Are the latest PBSA operator updates indicative of the market as a whole?- UCAS data - what does this signify for the future of student accommodation, BTR and coliving?- The COHO Future of HMOs reportPLUS, Hollie Jordan-Wright  from Howard Kennedy tackles your questions about the Renters' Rights Bill.Our sponsor for this season, theEword  are true experts in digital marketing specifically for the property sector.We are also delighted that MyStudentHalls are continuing to sponsor the podcast, Mystudenthalls.com - Find your ideal student accommodation across the UK.Each week, Sarah Canning, Deenie Lee of The Property Marketing Strategists and Daniel Smith of RESI Consultancy will be delving into a wide variety of subjects and asking the questions that aren't often asked. This podcast is for anyone who works in Student Accommodation, BTR, Co-living, Later Living, university accommodation, Operational Real Estate or Shared Living.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are the personal views of the individual hosts and guests.

Your Harrogate
Your Harrogate Podcast - Episode 377

Your Harrogate

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2025 14:18


In this episode of the Your Harrogate Podcast, we discover more about an exciting development for Harrogate Town's academy, plus, St Michael's Hospice in Harrogate take part in an important national campaign.Harrogate Town has announced a new partnership with Rossett School which will become the home of the club's new Football Academy.The Harrogate Town Football Academy will offer quality coaching and a games programme.It will be run by Harrogate Town staff on the same campus as their education provision; playing their home games on the 3G at Rossett School and competing in a competitive league from the 2025/26 season.Players will study as a Rossett School student working towards a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport. This will give them the equivalent UCAS points (as 3 A-Levels) required for university, if they consider this as an option in the future. Academy manager Richard Jones has been speaking to presenter Pete Egerton...Meanwhile, St Michael's Hospice is proud to be part of "This Is Hospice Care" - a nationwide initiative led by Hospice UK to highlight the power of legacy giving in sustaining hospice services across the UK. By joining forces with over 140 hospices, they aim to raise awareness about the vital role of hospice care and inspire people to consider leaving a gift in their Will.Presenter Nick Hancock has been chatting to relationships fundraiser Abbie Taylor...

UC Today - Out Loud
Partner Business Models Will be Key to Finding Value in 2025

UC Today - Out Loud

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2025 23:42


In this episode, David Dungay hosts Paul Holden, VP of EMEA at CallTower, and Jon Arnold, Principal at J Arnold and Associates, for a deep dive into the evolving landscape of channel partner business models.With AI, cloud-to-cloud migrations, and vertical specialization taking center stage, this conversation offers actionable insights for partners looking to maximize their potential in 2025 and beyond. If you're a channel partner or tech enthusiast, this discussion is one you can't afford to miss. Get ready for an insightful discussion on the future of unified communications and contact center solutions with industry experts Paul Holden and Jon Arnold.Learn how CallTower is helping partners embrace new opportunities while staying vendor agnostic. Key takeaways include:The Channel's Evolution: Explore how UCAS and CCAS migrations are driving innovation, with cloud-to-cloud transitions offering partners a chance to refine their portfoliosDemystifying AI: Understand practical use cases, from meeting summaries to customer service automation, and learn how partners can position AI as a tool for solving real business problemsThe Power of Vertical Solutions: Discover how focusing on specific industries like hospitality, aviation, and manufacturing can differentiate offerings and combat commoditizationSecurity as a Priority: Learn why robust cybersecurity measures are critical as businesses handle more data than ever in their digital transformation journeyPacked with examples like seamless collaboration for private jet hire companies and optimizing hotel logistics, this episode is rich with actionable advice for channel partners ready to lead in a fast-evolving market.

Teenage Kicks Podcast
Ep. 99: How will my child ever be ready to go to university?

Teenage Kicks Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2025 49:57


It's a question I see asked a lot. There's a whole Facebook group dedicated to discussing the issues parents have when their children are preparing to leave home for university, and the questions come in cycles. Right now, it's UCAS forms and university choices, as the deadline for applications looms. In a couple of months it will be questions about A-Level revision and exam dates, and then will come the angst - in rafts - over teenagers whose parents don't think they're ready. (I have a sneaking suspicion it's the parents who aren't ready most of the time, not the kids.My guest in this episode speaks to this parental fear as a parent herself, and as a psychologist who supports families of children and teenagers with type 1 diabetes. Professor Deborah Christie talks about how any disability makes it more difficult to leave home, especially for the often chaotic lifestyle of university. With data* suggesting that over a third of young adults have a long-term physical or mental health condition, disability or illness, could this be something your listeners might be interested in? Deborah offers reassurance and tips for success, whatever your fears for your child as they gain independence and have to look after themselves. * Research commissioned to mark the integration of Abbott's FreeStyle Libre 2 Plus sensor withInsulet's Omnipod® 5 Automated Insulin Delivery System.More for parents of teenagers preparing for university Don't fear the empty nest (podcast) 10 Tips for coping with empty nest syndrome (read) Being diagnosed with diabetes as a teenager (podcast) How to keep your teen safe at university (read) 60 Gifts for university students (list)Who is Deborah Christie? Deborah Christie is a professor of paediatric and adolescent psychology at University College London NHS Foundation Trust and Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust. She is an internationally respected academic and award-winning clinician; with an outstanding record of peer-reviewed publications, teaching and leadership with over 200 peer reviewed papers and chapters and a bestselling book, Psychosocial Aspects of Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Families. She co-authored the expert reports on Psychosocial Issues of infection and the Impact of bereavement for the UK government Infected Blood Inquiry.Who is Helen?Helen wills is a counsellor, a parent coach, and a teen mental health podcaster and blogger at Actually Mummy, a resource for midlife parents of teens.For information on your data privacy please visit Zencastr's policy pagePlease note that Helen Wills is not a medical expert, and nothing in the podcast should be taken as medical advice. If you're worried about yourself or a teenager, please seek support from a medical professional.Episode produced by Michael J Cunningham.

Radio Bilbao
De la lanzadera del funicular de Artxanda a la reforma de Peñucas, Güeñes

Radio Bilbao

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2025 1:04


La actualidad de Bizkaia en un minuto. ¿Qué ha ocurrido el jueves 9 de enero de 2025?

ProGRESS
Rachel Johnson, student mental health social worker

ProGRESS

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2024 34:33


Rachel Johnson's career was going swimmingly. In the two decades since graduating from University of Leeds, she had worked her way up through various early careers and student research organisations, such as Milkround, Not Going to Uni, UCAS and Cibyl at Group GTI, an independent market research agency specialising in student research projects across the UK and Ireland. She was a business director, owned her own flat and when holidays came around, Rachel was ticking off a bucket list of places to see. Rachel was continuing with the running she had taken up during the pandemic and quietly, in her spare time, she volunteered at Samaritans, the charity that offers 24/7 listening support to people struggling to cope.Then in 2024, Rachel handed in her notice to take up a place as a trainee mental health social worker. And while that might have been a mic-drop moment for people she worked with, it was something Rachel had been considering for some time.In this episode Rachel explains:• why she took such a momentous decision• what it's been like to return to tutorials 20 years after graduating from the University of Leeds• how it has been to re-learn essay writing• the reflective practices in place that help social workers cope with case work• how she feels about going on placements at the front line as a trainee mental health social worker.Rachel offers advice for anyone considering treading the same path as her to become a social worker, whether they are fresh out of university or, like her, making a career change. She also talks about what happens next, after summer 2025, when she receives her postgraduate diploma and masters degree.Mentioned in this podcastLinksThink AheadCibyl, Group GTISamaritansYou might also enjoy:Duncan Goose, founder of Global Ethics and One Water S1 E10Lydia Carrington, sustainability manager, Edgbaston Stadium S2 E1Rae Wilkinson, award-winning sustainable garden designer S1 E1Jo Faulkner-Harvey, head of charity fundraising S3 E5About ProGRESS:Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible jobs, courses or activities and asks for real-world insights into the pathways and careers that led to them.Instagram: @theProGRESS_podcastOriginal content © Sandra KessellOriginal music © Lyze KessellEmail: hello@my-progress.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Telecom Reseller
Crexendo marks growth milestones, Podcast

Telecom Reseller

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2024


“We've grown the company 225% over the course of 2020 to 2023,” says Doug Gaylor, President and Chief Operating Officer of Crexendo. “And that's what Deloitte highlighted in recognizing us for our growth and our success. One of the core metrics was simply the number of end users you've achieved. Yeah, so if you look at our growth, our growth is directly corresponding to the growth of our platform and the growth of our end-user customers out there. So, we announced in September that we eclipsed 5 million users on our platform. We're currently adding about 100,000 users per month on our platform. And that, according to Frost and Sullivan, puts us as the fastest-growing UCAS platform in the country. When you look at the amount of success that we've got, it's really being driven by the fact that we've got our licensees out there that are growing tremendously using the Crescendo platform as the foundation for their business, plus a strong retail offering as well. We're adding new customers on our retail offering directly to Crexendo.” Crexendo was recently named one of the fastest-growing companies in North America on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies in North America, now in its 30th year. Crexendo grew an impressive 225% during the award time period of 2020-2023 and ranked as the 6th fastest-growing company in the Communications/Networking category. “If you look at Cisco and Microsoft, two of the largest companies in the world, and their UCaaS offering is just a small component of what they do. For Microsoft, it's a rounding error. For Cisco, it may be a little bit bigger portion of their business, but it's not their core competency. For us, UCaaS and being the best UCaaS provider out there is our one and only core focus.” Crexendo, Inc. is an award-winning software technology company that is a premier provider of cloud communication platform software and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) offering, including voice, video, contact center, and managed IT services tailored to businesses of all sizes. Our cloud communications software solutions currently support over five million end users globally, through an extensive network of over 230 cloud communication platform software subscribers and our direct retail offering. Visit https://www.crexendo.com/

Resting Glitch Face
Follow Your Dreams [Season 3: Episode 1]

Resting Glitch Face

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2024 52:40


Relationship drama! Psychological trauma! Several dead bodies! The UCAS healthcare system! Just another day in the life of St. Louis's most infamous shadowrunning team. What is in store for the Glitches? Tune in to find out! Cast:  Collateral – Maddie Binary – Dot Eris – Shannon Jet - Cyd Continuity Editor- Dot Editor/Producer- Cyd Gamemaster/Executive Producer – Eric Intro Music by Synthezx Outro Music by Austin Miller Background Music by Machinima Sound Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/restingglitchface for behind the scenes clips and early episode releases!

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast
Mental health, renters' reform, international strategy

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2024 36:51


This week on the podcast it's possible to predict a student's wellbeing using mental health analytics - but what are the ethics and implications? Plus Labour's new legislation for improving the rental market has been discussed in Parliament, Hidden History looks at a push for higher technical skills, and there's going to be a new International Education Strategy - we discuss what should be in it.With Ben Jordan, Director of Strategy at UCAS, Jenny Shaw, Higher Education External Engagement Director at Unite Students, David Kernohan, Deputy Editor at Wonkhe, Mike Ratcliffe, Academic Registrar at City St George's University of London, and presented by Mark Leach, Editor-in-Chief at Wonkhe.Data can help predict where students are struggling with wellbeingWon't somebody think of the landlords?Ten things that could feature in a new International Education StrategyUniversities can build trust through creative public engagement Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Housed: The Shared Living Podcast
How will the Renter's Right Bill affect PBSA? Is everyone getting involved in third-party management? And are students really getting value for money from their accommodation?

Housed: The Shared Living Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2024 29:54


Housed: The Shared Living Podcast
UCAS: more than just an application body a summer series episode with Stephen Cleal

Housed: The Shared Living Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2024 36:12


Send us a Text Message.In our latest Housed Summer Series episode we chat with Stephen Cleal, Customer Success Director, UCAS. With over 20 years of industry experience and having spent 11 years at UCAS, Steve brings a wealth of knowledge to the sector and heads up the Accommodation and Real Estate team as they continue to support students as they transition into higher education or apprenticeships and move away from home.Some of the topics we covered in this informative episode:

英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟
第2280期:UCAS to reform university personal statement

英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2024 1:02


The 4,000-character personal statement has been a part of university application for 30 years. But there's been growing concern it's not fit for purpose. While it's meant to be written by the student alone, research suggests middle class parents and schools influence them.30 年来,提交一份四千字的个人陈述一直是英国大学申请流程的一部分。但越来越多的人担心它能否继续适用于设计的初衷。虽然个人陈述须要学生本人独立完成,但研究显示许多中等收入的父母及学校也会介入或指导个人陈述的写作。So, instead, UCAS will replace this unstructured essay with asking applicants to answer three questions: Why do you want to study this course or subject? How have your studies helped you prepare? And what else have you done to prepare outside of education? Students will be expected to write no more than the current personal statement in total.所以,英国大学及学院招生服务将会用对申请人提出的三个问题来代替这篇非结构化的论文:你为什么想要学习这门课程或专业?你过去的学习经历如何帮你为之做好准备?你在学习之余为了准备这门课程或专业的学习还做了哪些事情?对学生答案的总字数要求将不会超过目前个人陈述的字数要求。Social mobility academics and charities have advocated for this change. In England, the application rate from students with the most disadvantaged backgrounds has fallen slightly to 25%, whereas for the wealthiest it's 60%. UCAS said it hoped this change would contribute to narrowing that gap.研究社会流动性的学者和慈善机构对这一变化提倡已久。在英格兰地区,来自最弱势背景的学生申请比例占全部申请的比例略微下降到了 25%,而来自最富裕家庭的申请比例则占比 60%。英国大学招生服务中心希望这项变化能有助于减少这一差距。 词汇表personal statement 个人陈述fit for purpose 适用于自身目的influence 对…施加影响unstructured essay 非结构化的论文social mobility 社会流动性advocated 提倡disadvantaged backgrounds 弱势背景gap 差距

Indy and Dr
Recent Attacks On The Sikh Community In Gravesend & Appearing On BBC London With Sunny & Shay | #179

Indy and Dr

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2024 95:46


00:00 - Plain t-shirt crew + too many stairs04:25 - Dr has put in a request for annual leave05:51 - What is the value of the story?08:57 - Payday is so far away10:26 - Gravesend Gurdwara incident + lack of media coverage17:38 - Should security be heightened at Gurdwaras?20:31 - Scunthorpe Gurdwara incident + Golak being stolen23:04 - Scandals getting leaked quickly via CCTV23:57 - What is the motive for stealing from a Gurdwara?28:02 - Is Langar in India different from the UK?29:43 - Are there too many Gurdwaras in one area?31:36 - Indy's punjabi lessons are coming in handy32:41 - Haldi Manicure36:32 - Does eating with your hands make food taste better?39:52 - How much do you care about nails + Weedol donations welcome42:50 - Indy needs to do his punjabi homework44:50 - But what did I do?!48:04 - Dr likes putting things in the bin52:56 - Dr is a part of the cleaning team54:45 - Writing your UCAS personal statement57:33 - Watching workers at the house01:01:35 - JSK likes dismantling boxes01:04:22 - Sanj likes resurrecting her phone01:07:39 Sanj finally attempts to buy a new phone01:11:10 - Apple vs Android + Indy unleashed Bal01:15:36 - How long should a phone last?01:18:09 - Indy Intangibles + Maths lessons01:22:00 - 20k followers on IG + so much is going on!01:23:56 - Seating at events is confusing + seeing LeBron James IRL01:31:16 - Being invited to Sunny + Shay BBC London Radio show Follow Us On: Tik Tok - https://bit.ly/indy-and-dr-tik-tokInstagram - http://bit.ly/indy-and-dr-instaFacebook - http://bit.ly/indy-and-dr-facebookSpotify - http://bit.ly/indy-and-dr Also available at all podcasting outlets.

Hearts of Oak Podcast
Hermann Kelly - Immigration, Sovereignty and Traditional Values with The Irish Freedom Party

Hearts of Oak Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2024 47:56 Transcription Available


Shownotes and Transcript Hermann Kelly, President of the Irish Freedom Party, shares insights on Irish politics and his background. He discusses growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, his journey from theology to journalism to politics, working with Nigel Farage in the European Parliament, and the challenges of the political sphere. Hermann outlines the Irish Freedom Party's principles of national sovereignty, anti-EU influence, pro-life stance, and traditional family values, criticizing mainstream parties on immigration. He emphasizes the importance of controlled borders, work permits, and prioritizing Irish citizens' welfare. Hermann addresses media bias, advocating for social media and grassroots efforts to connect with voters and counter leftist narratives. His vision for the party focuses on restoring national sovereignty, protecting Irish culture, and prioritizing Irish citizens in policy decisions. Originally from the Bogside in Derry, Hermann's family have a small farm in Donegal since he was a young. After attending St Columb's College in Derry, he studied marine biology in Edinburgh before studying theology as a lay student at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.  First a secondary school teacher he then became a journalist, writing for various national newspapers including the Irish Mail on Sunday and Irish Examiner.  He was formerly director of communications for the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group in the European Parliament, and his since come to work with The European Conservatives and Reformists Group.  He is a founding member of The Irish Freedom Party and its current president.   Connect with Hermann and The Irish Freedom Party... X/TWITTER        x.com/hermannkelly                            x.com/IrexitFreedom WEBSITE            irishfreedom.ie/ Interview recorded 10.7.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... X/TWITTER        x.com/HeartsofOakUK WEBSITE            heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS        heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA  heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                  heartsofoak.org/shop/ *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com and follow him on X/Twitter x.com/TheBoschFawstin Transcript (Hearts of Oak) I'm delighted to be joined by someone whose name I have seen a lot back in my time in my UKIP days, and that's Hermann Kelly. Hermann, thank you so much for your time today. (Hermann Kelly) Great. Thank you very much for the invite, Peter. Great to be here. It's good to have you discuss all things Irish politics. You can obviously follow Herman @HermannKelly on Twitter. And Hermann, journalist, former UKIP's European Media Supremo, head of comms at the EFDD group in the European Parliament, Nigel Farage's press secretary, and all the fun that came back in those times, of course, as president of the Irish Freedom Party, launched in 2018 as a common-sense political party in Ireland, because Ireland lacked those, and we'll get into all of that. But, Hermann, you were born in the bog side. Christmas Day, you were born in the bog side in Derry, London Derry, Stroke City, which which is over there in Northern Ireland. It's known as a very rough area, like the Shanklin Falls, maybe in Belfast. What was it like growing up in an area like the Belfast? Well, it was only rough when I was growing up. It was a very friendly place, a very safe place, incredibly low crime rate. It was only rough if you were a British soldier. So there's bullet holes at the side of our house, the front of our house, on the wall opposite our house. There was a high banking behind our house. IRA used it as a shooting spot. And as the British Army jeeps went past the army checkpoint, out the road, they would get shot at. I've seen that many times. But if you were a local, it was incredibly safe, very low crime rate. And it had my followers headmaster of a large primary school in Cregan and Derry just up the hill from ourselves. and that had 75% male unemployment, so it was quite financially poor. But it was very friendly, very safe. And I must say, it was also highest per capita, donations per capita of any city or any town in what was politically the UK. So people were very kind, very generous. I didn't find it rough at all. It's interesting. Me growing up in Carrickfergus, that was absolutely fine because a lot of police lived there. So actually, it was monoculture, completely Protestant. You found it absolutely fine growing up in somewhere completely Catholic with no police or no army. It's interesting. We both grew up actually fairly safe childhoods. Interesting. But at kind of opposite ends of the scale in terms of that sectarian divide. Yeah. I suppose for where we were, it was a kind of high trust, low friction society. That's the whole thing about not being a multicultural society of a kind of melting pot or a kind of constant friction of people bumping off each other, metaphorically rather than physically. I mean. I always remembered very safe and certainly with the neighbours, very good people as neighbours, very, very lucky. And it shows the whole, the importance of common belief, nationality, and how it can lead to a very low-friction, high-trust society, which is easy to live in. What was it you kind of aspired to growing up? Because you went, you studied theology, you've been in media and journalism and politics. Kind of growing up, what were your thoughts of what the future may be? Well, obviously you can see with my, let's say, circuitous route of career that I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I was 18. And I remembered the agony of what I was going to fill in in the UCAS form to go to university right up to the last minute. And I started at optometry and then marine biology and then theology. I had always a great interest, developed a great interest in philosophy and then from that then theology and but I always had an abiding love interest because I grew up in day during the troubles, oh we always we were brought up with great interest in politics, interest in history in culture and also a great respect for language studied Irish studying English and a bit of French as well but the importance of language and all those things melded together my abiding interest in politics and history and culture and faith etc all those things and then also my respect for language and from that I eventually found my way to become a journalist and then a director of communication so in one way it was very circuitous but then it was when you look back it looked like a very straight path but the interest in politics and a respect for language and literature kind of have always remained with me. Well so how did you end up working with UKIP with the EFDD group in the European Parliament, was it an interest just in politics European Parliament and then later on you connected with the chaos and the fun that was UKIP or did that come first how did that happen? Well. I was actually, well, I'd previously been a teacher, I was working in Dublin and I think i became a teacher. I liked this idea of influence, influence on society to make the world a better place. And so it became a teacher then I realized that, well, where's the power to change society? Really? It's concentrated in the press, in the media. So it became a journalist. And then I think by that stage I had maybe four, five children and someone said to me one time if you can say you're a consultant you can charge twice as much, well journalism in Ireland didn't pay very much so I then was working as a press officer for Libertas in the European election 2009 for deacon gamley who were then a Eurosceptic party pat across Europe and I was so I was then recommended on foot of this by Declan Gamley to Nigel Farage. But previous to this, I had written an article for economic recovery in Ireland. Ireland needs to leave the euro. And I think Nigel Farage had seen this. It went up on UKIP website because it's unusual for people to advocate that in Ireland. And so he heard my name. And after I was recommended by Declan Gamley, he gave my call I said here let's meet up and I worked for Nigel Farage in Ireland it was the Lisbon 2 campaign of 2010 was it and 2010 and I sorry summer 2009 I worked for three months and after that just in Ireland he said come over work for me he was happy with the briefing he got and says here come over work for me full-time over in Brussels so as Ireland was absolutely going down the tubes and all these journalists were losing their jobs and losing their houses I thought well it's a good opportunity to take a well-paid and steady job, you know for the family. Definitely. I remember applying to work over there and after 10 months, they finally approved it and it was far too late and I had to produce documentation that didn't exist in the UK. It was just chaos. But I always heard your name, Hermann Kelly, always mentioned, just as I kept hearing Gawain Tyler's name mentioned over in the UK. And it seemed to me these two were the ones that understood, had their finger on the pulse, certainly in terms of medium press. I must say, I had great fun with UKIP MEPs. Like, I was working for the group, so it would have been probably 47 MEPs, seven different nationalities, I think. EFD group initially was about 42 MEPs, seven different nationalities. But the whole thing is you're meeting new people and people from different countries, different cultures, different experiences of life, pretty well-educated, pretty intelligent people, the whole lot. So it was very stimulating. It was good fun. It was important. I was committed to the work I was doing. I was philosophically committed to it. So I wanted to do a good job. and you know what you develop good relations with the people I was working with, so a number of the MEPs Nigel Farage, Paul Nuttall later guys like Ray Finch that I was very good friends with these people and also a number of staff Jamie Linsworth, Orly Leloup was chief of staff, you know we also became good friends not just colleagues working together in a political party. I remember going going for an interview with orally uh back in the days but it was all I guess the thing I found whenever I'd met a lot of the MEPs was they were real people and you kind of come across politicians that are too polished and that's all they've wanted to do the UKIP MEPs that actually lived their lives and then were doing this because they wanted to do something for their country, that's kind of rare these days in politics and that's what I love, that real but also sometimes a little bit of chaos, I mean you must have had some sleepless nights. Well one previous, Mark Kreutzer, a previous press officer said getting all the UKIP MEPs together. Was like, what was it, like herding cats, like, Yeah, see, to go against the stream, to go against the crowd or the mob, you have to have a quite individualistic contrarian streak to swim against that tide. So you must have that already to be happy to say to the establishment and the vast majority of the easy, instead of taking the easy path, you're taking the harder path and you're going against the tide. So you must have that contrarian and also quite self-confident streak to be able to do that so yeah it's a strength and a weakness, it's a strength in that people actually believe what they say and say what they believe, but it's difficult get them all in one room and get them all going singing off the same hymn sheet as you might say like you know but some great characters. I remember being here out in the front of the European Parliament here in the beer factory and was with a lot of MEPs and staff and turning around to Jamie Leansworth who was Nigel Farage's secretary at the time or advisor and saying, God, we have some characters here, huh? That's an understatement. You've got guys like Godfrey Bloom, and Mike Hookham and all these different guys and Stuart Agnew and they're all very strong characters strong personalities but it was great fun as well and like you you get to like these people as well it was never a dull, never a dull moment no never a dull moment and some of the carry on in among the foreign MEPs as well I remember, you you had MEPs from like Greece and Latvia sorry Lithuania etc et cetera, and you meet them and hear, but their histories are very different. Their experiences of life were very different. So to hear them talking about the importance of national sovereignty against a kind of federalist EU state, etc. They all have it for their own reasons and find it in their own experience. But I certainly was very committed to the job. I did my very best. And certainly reaching for the referendum in 2015, we strove very, very hard. We worked very hard to get a referendum and we worked hard then to get a result. So it was very pleasing for me personally and not just professionally but also personally to get to achieve a referendum 2015 and get a result in the Brexit referendum of 2016, so I was my wife always used to give off to me you love your job as an accusation, I said yeah what's wrong with that I do Yeah it's true it's good to love it, I want to get on the Irish politics but just last thing is is what was it like to be up, you're in the belly of the beast, you're up against the system, you're saying that, actually where we are standing here representing the UK, we are against everything that this institution, this parliament really wants, which is ever closer union, ever closer ties, control. And we want to be free from that. What was that like? Because no other countries have had a breakaway, exit groups, but actually none of them have achieved anywhere near what UKIP achieved, so what was that like as the major grouping there who actually wanted to get out of there, you would have had a lot of commonality I guess with individual MEPs but maybe not with parties, so there must be tension as well Oh yeah certainly in the second term with the EFDD group we there was a marriage of convenience we had with the five-star party and that wasn't a marriage made in heaven believe me uh so we were very Eurosceptic believed in national sovereign they wanted to leave the European union and we were sold a bit of a pup that they were kind of anti-establishment kind of Eurosceptic well the leaders were pepe grillo a guy david casaleggio certainly were quite rebellious and Eurosceptic But the MEPs who they voted in, where a lot of them had done Rasmus schemes and stuff like that, they're all very university-educated. They weren't Euro-sceptic at all. And that was a very difficult time, yes. There was quite a few arguments there. But, you know what? Personally, I would always have different relations with various people, across the political spectrum here in Brussels. I would regard it as bad form to be, disliking people because of their political views. But certainly, politically, Yeah, we were treated pretty abysmally by the institutions of the European Parliament here, who certainly after Brexit were incredibly vindictive and actually went on a witch hunt of MEPs. And I know, for example, that Paul Nuttall, his life was made a nightmare with constant meetings by this finance department with false accusations. And basically the refusal, how they treated some people was just unbelievable. Like one guy broke his arm. I know, for example, that they refused to pay the medical bills of a number of MEPs, which were 100% genuine, just out of malice. And they said, but you have to pay? That's the rules. Take us to court if you want. It's our court. This is the kind of stuff that would happen. and they refused to pay the staff of some MEPs. Asked why, we're not going to do it. If you want to, take it to court if you want. Remember, we control the court as well. So this was the attitude. So it really showed that centralisation of power in the hands of a small number of unaccountable elite is a very dangerous and stupid idea. No completely. Right, I want to get on to Irish politics. And everything that you've taught about, I guess, has given you a wide grasp of what is happening across, your wide grasp of that political side and added to your journalism skills and background. So you've got the Irish Freedom Party and Ireland is, as I mentioned earlier, I grew up with Gareth Fitzgerald and Charlie Hockey in the 80s in Ireland. Ireland was a very different place, although it still was Irish. So that was the benefit of it. Well, that bit's changed. But, and we'll get into Immigrate, but the Irish Freedom Party, tell us kind of where that came from, the idea and what it stands for. Because there was no party in Ireland looking for a sovereign, independent Ireland. You had Sinn Féin, who were basically, they were... They're implementing British rule in Ireland, but also they were happy to advocate Brussels' rule. So they're opposed to UK influence in Ireland, but they were completely happy that the majority of the laws which run in Ireland actually come originally from Brussels by people who we didn't elect and who we can't get rid of. So I believe in nation and nation-state and democratic self-determination. I believe that Irish people are good enough to make their own laws, to decide their own destiny in this world. I'm opposed to subservience to the European Union. The big problem over here in Brussels with the EU itself is what you call qualified majority voting, where Ireland, we're 1% of the EU population. So that means that the votes are voted on, 99% of the votes are done by people who are not Irish, and these laws can be approved and imposed upon us, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it because we have disqualified majority voting in most of the areas. Many people do not realise that in areas of EU competence, EU law is superior to the Irishlaw, Irish Supreme Court, and the Irish Constitution. And that, for me, certainly is not a constitutional or democratic. Like a constitutional republic. That is a province of Brussels. It's a subservient province of Brussels, and that's not what the people were promised 100 years ago. So how did the party launch? It's been there since 2018, and I've looked at the Irish political scene from afar, and there wasn't anything which was common sense and seen. One Taoiseach after another just destroying Ireland. Yeah, there's this cultural like, it's funny because I was, we're talking about where we're both from, like, so growing up in the Brandywale, in the Lomar Road in Derry during the Troubles, I was brought up for all intents and purposes was a cultural superiority complex, that we were brought up that Irish poetry, Irish dance, Irish games and language and literature was fantastic. It was the best in the world and the world needed plenty of us. Go forth and procreate. We're wonderful, right? It then come down south and the experience is cultural self-loathing, which is very strong among the media class and the political class. And it's, well, where does this come from? And it wasn't just but this cultural self-loathing is very deep in south of Ireland at the minute at something to which I'm very implacably opposed and now we're trying to change the ship of state around, you know what, Irish culture is good Irish nation it's important what's the only one one we have, that Irish democracy, we must, seek that we are in democratic control of our destiny in this world, not to have laws dictated to us by someone else who we didn't vote for and we can't get rid of. But it's to do with a lot of things as well. Our catch cry is that we want free people in a free country. So it's not just like we want democratic control in Ireland to leave the European Union. And that the government in Dublin is going to dictate our lives, is that personal freedom, personal responsibility are very important. They're vital. We're standing up for things like the importance of free speech, for the right to not have the state dictate to you what you most put inside your body as a basic human right. The right to private property, that the state does not control your life, Even an Irish state doesn't control your life. So standing up for, I would describe these the basic building blocks of a liberal society. Of, as I said, free people in a free country, free speech, right to bodily autonomy, private property, lower government, less government waste, less government spending, lower taxation, the people be able themselves to make the decisions which control their own lives. So we started the party five years ago. We just now have had our first councillor elected in those last local elections. Glenn Moore and Clon Bakken will be running a large slate of candidates in the general election, which is likely to come about in October or November of this year. And I'm myself I ran as a candidate in the Midlands Northwest for the European election there just passed I ended up I got there was a huge huge number of candidates, 27 candidates in total, there were 13 nationalist candidates after Peter Casey the former presidential candidate I got the the highest is the highest vote of any nationalist I ended up with 21,000 votes and 3% of the vote. Considering there were 13 nationalist candidates in the field, I did very well. And actually, the person who was presented themselves as kind of a little bit conservative, socially conservative, nationalist. Eurosceptic, what do you call him, Keir Malooly from the Independent Ireland Party. What did they do? They got elected. And the first thing he did was come over to Brussels and join Renew, which is the Federalist fanatic group, with a complete and utter betrayal by the party of all those voters who voted for him. So I only wish he had told the voters before the election that he was going to join the Federalist group in the European Parliament rather than after, because I think my vote would have increased dramatically. Well, Ireland are getting some of the policies, but Ireland seems to have been slow to move away from that. You had Fianna Gael, Fianna Fáil, you've always had them with a dose of Labour in there. Then obviously you've had the rise of Sinn Féin. But Ireland seems to have been slow to move away from that group of parties. And Sinn Féin have been around a long time as well. They're not a new party. Tell me what that's like in moving to new parties and getting the message out. It's a tough sell, actually, putting something new out in the Irish political sphere and getting the message out in the media. Absolutely, because historically, I was very slow to support new parties. Most of the successful political parties are split off from actually Sinn Féin from 1905 and onwards. We have Sinn Féin then split into Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and then Plan the Public. I believe all the parties are a break off of Sinn Féin bar the Green Party, if that is correct. And Sinn Féin well for example but even Fianna Fáil used to be Fianna Fáil, the Republican Party, they believed in National Democratic since they pushed to join the Common Market in 1973 and then it was still Sinn Féin policy to leave the Common Market or the European Community, whatever you called it, certainly up until the late 80s so we're basically.... Look, the Proclamation of Independence in 1916 talked about the Irish people having the right, and even says, also in the Irish Constitution of 1937, about the sovereignty and independence of Ireland should be protected for the good of the Irish nation. And that's what we're seeking for. All we're looking to do is to be a normal, self-governing country where we make our own laws for the benefit of the Irish people. That's all. We're not looking for anything new, crazy, or fandangled thing. But Sinn Féin have changed dramatically. They're now a European Unionist party. I call them a Euro-Loyalist party. I'm sure they hate it, but I love it. You know the reasons why. Oh yeah, I call Sinn Féin immigration party. It does make me laugh that they hate it as well. The Sinn Féin immigration party is Brits out everybody else in. Drives them mad. I saw in your Wikipedia entry you'd used the term abort and import, which I also loved as well. I say the Sinn Féin immigration policy is Brits out to everybody else, and the Fine Gael immigration policy is abort and import. And it actually works perfectly in all the romance languages, French and Spanish Spanish, et cetera. It all works perfectly in those, because I was telling someone over here at dinner one evening, I said, oh, that's really good in French too. That's fantastic. I always use as few words as possible to pack as much power into as little space as possible. That's my job as a press officer, was always to take complex ideas and crunch them down or boil them down into some in as few words as possible with as much power and impact, both political and emotional impact on people as it can. So that's a typical few examples of Hermanism, so to speak, like to boil down complex ideas. The simple language, because my job as press officer was always to get words or formula words that people understand, they can easily understand, easily remember. I always scratch my head looking at Ireland originally used to be one of the strongest Catholic countries, most staunchly Christian Catholic countries in Europe. And yet you've had their political representatives have not gone along with any Catholic belief. You look at Sinn Féin, you look at the North SDLP, everything about them has been more the self-hatred woke agenda and nothing about what actually the church would teach. And I often wonder if I was going to mass each Sunday, actually politically, who would I vote for? Where Northern Ireland, the DUP, who generally were socially conservative. And for the Catholic side, there was no one socially conservative ever to vote for. Absolutely. Well, certainly, yeah, in the last 20 years, you had to, I think a large part of it was self-inflicted by Vatican II about the self-loathing that anything came before 1965 was bad, was supposed to be forgotten, to be rejected. And that the new year zero, so to speak, the second Vatican Council ended, I think, 1968 or 69, that everything after that was okay. And it's all Libby-friendly. That was great. great, but no, in the Irish context, even up in the North, which was normally more conservative, people were more, let's say, conscious and proud of being Christian and being Catholic, part of their identity, national identity, religious identity. Down south, completely the opposite, where people that, because the power of the media, that you had Sinn Féin, the Workers' Party in the 70s and 80s, a very... They started off as nationalists that became internationalists and then became very a Marxist party, basically very anti-Christian and I believe that had a very, the leader's effect on the culture of Ireland because there were so many of them got into the media and had a big big impact, but ourselves, we are happy and proud to, when we are not a kind of confessional party, you don't have to be a Catholic to join the Irish Freedom Party. But we've made it very clear from day one that we are a pro-life party and we are pro-family, that we believe we want to protect and augment the foundations of civilisation. So where cultural Marxism wants to destroy the nation state. National sovereignty, the nation state wants to destroy the family, even down to the distinctions of male and female. We want to counteract that. So we were against this trans ideology. We'll stand up for the distinction and common complementarity of man and a woman. We approve family. We want to encourage people to have children, to educate their children in their culture. It is then with education develops culture and a civilization. And we believe that we also believe in the nation state and in national democracy. So like, but all this stuff about. It's very hard to have a functioning successful civilization where the family is not at the centre of it and faith is a very important, Christian faith you acknowledge not only acknowledge Christian faith as a historical origin but also as a living thing in Ireland. And I must say that compared to the Libby Dibbies in Ireland, you'll find that a large swathe of nationalists, they're not practicing Catholics and Christians, they're certainly culturally so. And they're very proud of that. Because when they look around and they see that here we have, They have 10,000 abortions, 10,000 Irish children being killed in the womb last year in Ireland. Our birth rate is now 1.5, just over 1.5 children per woman. A few generations of that, the population of Ireland shrinks to filial. So we are in favour of liberty and of life. So we would like to encourage people to get married, to have children, to start a family. So we advocate as a pro-natalist, pro-family party, but also advocate policies like we have already. And they've successfully implemented in Hungary to adjust the tax system to help young couples to have kids. And that, for example, if a couple have three or four children, that they don't pay tax and that they don't encourage young couples to have children because no country has a future without children. And that's a basic fact because demographics is destiny. That is a universal truth all across the world and every time in every culture. So we want to encourage the people to have children and also then provide the basics all of them. So I was talking last night on a space and I was talking about the importance of, we are not looking for we're just looking for the ability for people to grow up in a safe environment, and then when they leave school that they have the ability to get a job. Find someone who's only got married to be able to buy a house because at the minute, because of mass immigration, high house prices, young people cannot buy a house and they're all emigrating. A massive problem in Ireland isn't just immigration into Ireland, it's also emigration. We are importing a huge number of people into Ireland. We don't know who, in many cases, we don't know who they are, where they're from, do they have a criminal record. That is detrimental to the security of our country because it leads to an increased crime rate, et cetera. At the same time, because our young people cannot, in many cases, find an apartment to rent, certainly not a house to buy, which they cannot afford anyway. So what are they doing? They're emigrating to Australia and Canada. And that's. Well that's the definition of a failed state isn't it, where you can even provide a job in a house for young people and they're emigrating so that is a failed state, so we as people actually are pretty upset how the country that they love being destroyed before their eyes and, but we will instead of personal darkness we would like to put out a light and do something about it, soI said, we're putting out candidates in the general election. We will keep on standing. Nigel Farage, he just got elected there during the week. It was his eighth time of standing for the Houses of Parliament. And I've only stood twice in the European election. That'd be my first time standing as a TD seat. So we're in the infancy of the Irish Freedom Party. But I am certain that in the years ahead, we will have a large impact. And we're already having an impact. because you saw there in that European election, Sinn Féin did very poorly. Their vote fell, now last October, their vote in the polls was 35%. It's now 18%. And in the European election, their vote fell by 12.5%. A general nationalist sway was 12.5%. So that vote, I would suspect, or I would argue, went from Sinn Féin to a smog spore of nationalist candidates. It was like a plunder boss into a mattress and that vote went everywhere to so many different national candidates, 3,000 here, 3,500 there, maybe 21,000 people like me, but that the. That Sinn Féin vote did not go to Fine Gael. It went to generalist nationalist candidates. So we're having an impact on the narrative, on the discussion of the EU migration pact, on the anti-free speech laws that they're trying to introduce in Ireland, about the whole thing about housing availability, etc. We're having an impact on the political discussion in Ireland already. Ready and I would hope and expect that that increases in the years going forward. I want to pick an immigration but let me just touch on the family, because when you look at Hungary and their pro-family and pro-life policies and there are parties you look at Italy and Greece and there are it's a pro-family nation still pro-family culture and a pro-life generally. But many parties, I know Reform will maybe talk a bit about pro-family, but pro-life, you know, that's up to the individual. But I can't imagine kids growing up thinking, you know, when I get older, someday I'd love to have an abortion. It shouldn't be the main option. There has to be a range of options of adoption, of other ideas. And it seems as though especially young girls are pushed down this avenue and this is the only option and I mean I got a lot of respect for you as a party, not only being pro-family but actually pro-life because that's a completely common sense response to what we are facing. Yeah well I was actually attended the rally for life, on in Dublin there on Saturday there's a very big crowd at it and there was a number of members and candidates for the Irish freedom party were there the Irish freedom party banner and the a number of national flags as well to show that we're proud to stand up for life and so well sure, how can you talk about human rights when you don't If you do not defend the right to life, if you don't defend the right to exist. How can you talk about the right to free speech, the right to private property, the right to this and that? It's a nonsense. And on the counter to that, if you accept that you can wipe out and destroy and butcher innocent human life, if you accept that principle, well, the next thing you're then on to logical consequence of accepting that principle. Is you're then you extended over time and you're then in favor of euthanasia of old people and then your euthanasia of people who are physically handicapped in some way or then people who are depressed and then you're straight on the 100% healthy people who there's nothing wrong with them and then you're straight on to murder, murder of innocent people who have I've never done anything wrong, and there's nothing wrong with them. So it's philosophically to accept the principle that it's okay to destroy human life. I will never accept it. Because you're on the slippery slope of a culture which advocates killing. Killing of its young, it's innocent. Then it's then killing old people, then sick people, and then healthy people. And that is that this two cities as Saint Augustine might say and the culture of life and the cultural death are extremely different and the consequences of a slight change in principle, like it's like coming up to a roundabout in a car and you're going around and you take one direction and as you follow out along that road that you've taken you can go in a very you end up in a very different destination if you take another turn off and you follow that path, for a number of miles. So be very careful. So that's why we've been very clear from day one that this is a pro-life party and we're also pro-family and we support a cultural life, not a culture of death. I want to finish on immigration because it's very strange for Ireland because Ireland have so much influence worldwide and the Irish culture is known throughout, probably because of the potato famine, because of that mass migration that's meant there is Irishness everywhere, certainly in the US and you travel all over Europe and wider and you'll certainly find Irish pubs, people flock to that. That desire and likability and connection and respect for Irish culture and intrigue, all of that, that kind of seemed to be disappearing. I'm surprised the mass immigration, but the change that's brought to Ireland, considering Irishness is known, despite Ireland being a tiny country, its impact culturally is very wide all over the world. But yet successive governments have allowed absolute mass immigration on a scale I don't think anyone else has seen in Europe for such a country that size. How has that affected voters and the public? Because if you keep voting the same way, you're just going to get the same change in Ireland and decimation of Irishness. All the main parties in Ireland, Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael, Sinn Féin, Labour Party, all the left are all in favour of what pretty much amounts to open borders, mass immigration. Now the consequences of that at the moment is that the Irish population since 1995 has gone up by over 1.5 million people, gone from 3.5 to 5.3 million people. That's a 42% percent increase in a very short period of time. And Ireland actually is the fastest increasing we see in Europe. In the Western world, actually, Ireland has the fastest increase of population through immigration of any country in the world, bar none. So what is happening, I would describe it as the new colonization of Ireland, because the numbers coming in here is so large. Like when we started off the party five years ago, I believe 12% of the population were non-national. It's now 22%. So there's been a 10% increase in the non-national part of our population within five years. That's immense. And actually, Grip Media did an analysis of the rate of influx of immigration into Ireland. And they worked out that if the current rate continues, what has happened over the last five years, As that continues, Irish people will be a minority in their own country by the year 2050. And I don't know about you, but I certainly wasn't asked about that. I didn't give my consent. So we describe what's happened now as the colonization without consent. And all we're looking for is to be a normal country, which has borders, which controls for the good of its people, the numbers of people and the qualifications of the people who are coming in, that they make sure that one, do we need to and two, if you want to come in you have got to contribute to our society and so for example you've got skills that you can that you can contribute and you're not a kind of tax, like don't be coming in here looking for free housing, free welfare, free medical care, like you come in, you work you support yourself and when [I very much believe in the work permit system. You come in, you work, you pay tax. And after that, after picking up, working, being paid, getting experience, having a good time, you then go back to your country of origin or go on to the next country, wherever you like. But I believe that because taking in large numbers of unvetted males into the country makes Ireland a less secure place. And like, for example, in 2022, there were 12 women were murdered in Ireland. Five of those were murdered by non-nationals. So there's been a swathe of increase in rapes and sexual assault in Ireland, as has happened all across Europe, be it in Germany, be it in Italy, be it in Sweden and France. So we should stop being naive and thinking that, oh, but it will never happen in Ireland because everybody loves us. They may do, but the consequences of mass unvetted immigration into Ireland are not very positive for Ireland at the minute. So all we're looking for is to be a normal country which controls its borders for the good of its own people. Because we want our young people, as I said earlier, to be able to get a job, be able to find a house and live in a secure area without any fear. And that's what people see, the destruction of their country, the mass immigration, and of course the destruction of the family. How do you, I mean, someone who understands the media so well, how do you get your message out? You've got a block on the mainstream media. Is it looking for alternative media, going directly to individuals, to the voters? How do you kind of get around that block which exists in Ireland to stop your message of common sense getting out? Well, you're completely true. The mainstream media, and when I say mainstream, it's funny because in regards, for example, that issue of are people in favour of mass immigration, 75% of people in Ireland are completely opposed to more migration. They believe Ireland has more than had enough. So that is the mainstream position. It's the extreme leftist position of open borders. They are the extremists. They are the minority. But the thing is, these leftists do control the media. And so we find it very difficult if not impossible to get anything positive out in the Irish media, so we're using social media at the minute and during the European elections was a good boost because the local papers had to talk about us, talk to our candidates, the write-ups of the candidates was almost universally positive on local radio, there were debates, so we got the name and the candidates of the party out there in open debate. We were discussing our policies in a fair environment for the first time, but the national media blocked us completely. So basically, we're pretty much using social media and also boots on the ground to get out meeting people, canvassing is very, very important. Well, Hermann, I really do appreciate your time. Hermann Kelly, President of the Irish Freedom Party, bringing common sense and an option to the voters that traditionally up to now really have not had any. So Hermann, thank you so much for joining us and giving us an overview, not only of Irish Freedom Party, but the difficulty and issues you're facing there in Ireland. Thank you very much, Peter.

La tarde en tu búsqueda
La unidad canina UCAS de Arrate crea un banco de olores para facilitar búsquedas

La tarde en tu búsqueda

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2024


La tarde de Canal Sur Radio con Mariló Maldonado
La unidad canina UCAS de Arrate crea un banco de olores para facilitar búsquedas

La tarde de Canal Sur Radio con Mariló Maldonado

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2024


The Partnership Podcast - Higher Ed Marketing
Five reasons why you're not attracting enough students to your institution

The Partnership Podcast - Higher Ed Marketing

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2024 27:11


Are you struggling to capture the hearts and minds of prospective students? If so, you're not alone. In the first episode of The Partnership Podcast - Higher Ed Marketing, host Penny Eccles addresses five reasons why you may not be attracting enough students to your institution. This episode looks at how to adjust your marketing strategies to ensure your institution resonates with your target audience. Building connections. Nurturing leads What do Saturday night TV's Gladiators and HE marketing have in common? Both have to face the gauntlet, says Penny Eccles. So how can we, as marketers, conquer our own gladiators and start 2025 with a robust lead pool? In this episode, Penny begins by highlighting the importance of creating a memorable institutional story that uses clarity and repetition to resonate with potential students and stakeholders. She delves into strategies to ensure institutions remain on prospective students' radars by effectively generating and nurturing leads through human connection and early relationship-building efforts. She highlights the importance of leveraging CRM systems and looks at the role of social media in crafting a compelling narrative for your institution. Penny also addresses the pivotal role academic staff and wider stakeholders play in the student recruitment process. The episode wraps with actionable insights on ways to harness social media and content marketing to solidify your institution's narrative and strengthen its appeal to potential students and their influencers. In This EpisodeHow to make your institution's story more memorableAssessing whether you are on your target audience's ‘meaningful radar' Why you need to be treasuring your precious leadsThe importance of a functioning CRM systemWhy you should supply helpful content like you don't want anything in returnWhy you should keep a record of what is, and isn't, workingHow to engage wider stakeholdersSummary of the five reasons why you aren't attracting students to your institutionSome of the things that are killing conversion rates Quotes“What have you done to spend time with your academic colleagues or your professional services colleagues to equip them to help you in your student recruitment and marketing endeavours?”“If you think that your best communication should start after your students apply, here's a brutal truth. They've already been forming relationships with your competitors, and the likelihood is that you've hit that UCAS form because your institution is a filler.”“There are a lot of activities that are lead generating but don't currently generate the leads. A good example is HE fairs. I don't think universities are diligent at collecting as many leads as possible. Yes, of course, that conversation is crucial, but so is the lead.”

Shadowrunnin' On Empty
Shadowrunnin' On Empty - A Shadowrun Lore Podcast: Episode 65 - DeeCee Sprawl

Shadowrunnin' On Empty

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2024 78:22


Hey Chummer join us once again as we go on a trip to the East coast. We are making our stop at the capitol of the UCAS, DeeCee. Jump in as we explore some DeeCee hop spots. Find out what gangs operate in this sprawl, and of course settle in for enough red tap to make a red samurai jealous. ~We also have an actual play podcast! Tune into our weekly adventures in SINless, here on Spotify ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7A1SkBE7i56Wj8WA32HtaM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or over on YouTube ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.complaylist?list=PLwEO24mRuGCRtGlUGZhQudTSQd5o8ekUw⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~Interested in supporting us? Five Nuyen a month over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/critical_hits⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ gets you a bunch of bonus benefits! Check it out chummer! ~Need Shadowrun books or products? We've got you covered! Our affiliate code over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2216/Catalyst-Game-Labs?3537587⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ not only gives you the gear to keep all your runners chromed up and fit, but it helps us out too! just drop the code: ?3537587 at the end of the browser link and not only get the books you need, but help us keep the doors open and the lights on while you're at it chummer! ~We also play stuff on twitch for our own amusement. Under no circumstances should you watch us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitch.tv/criticalhitslive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ since the whole thing is in poor taste and you're clearly better than that.

Telecom Reseller
IPFone acquires Joon, continues growth path, CCA Podcast

Telecom Reseller

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2024


IPFone, a leader in cloud communication services, announced earlier this month the acquisition of Joon, a prominent voice over internet protocol (VoIP) company. This strategic move marks a significant milestone in IPFone's expansion strategy, aiming to enhance its offerings in the fast-evolving telecommunications landscape. “I think it's the right fit,” says Damian Chmielewski President & CEO at IPFone. “They have a great team; great talent and we start working on transition customers from one platform to another.” Chmielewski, see he combined companies as complimentary, with great options and smooth migration paths for clients. “We have about 60 ,000 subscribers on our platform. We have about 5,000 customers. And we offer UCAS, WebEx, Internet, SD-WAN, Microsoft Teams integration, and other services related to the UCaaS service.” “Joon was the fifth acquisition in the last eight years. Our goal is to keep growing. This is a private company. We like it this way: self-funded. A healthy company. We have a goal to double our revenues in the last in the next three years and keep the company very competitive and aggressive…  I think we are doing a good job.” Visit www.ipfone.com About IPFone As a leading provider of cloud communication services, IPFone has been at the forefront of delivering innovative Cisco cloud solutions like UCaaS, Webex, Contact Center, Internet, SD-WAN & Security for over 25 years. Committed to innovative technology and customer satisfaction, IPFone is dedicated to empowering organizations with the most advanced cloud communication solutions available. For additional insights and updates about our services, connect with us on our social media platforms. Follow us on Instagram for the latest news and updates, and join our professional network on LinkedIn to stay informed about industry trends and company announcements. About Joon Established as Voice Ring and rebranded to Joon in 2018, the company has been a pioneer in cloud-based business communications for over a decade. Renowned for ‘The Joon Difference™', Joon stands out with its custom-built VoIP solutions and exceptional customer support, ensuring personalized and efficient service. Committed to resolving issues holistically, Joon provides a range of tailored cloud communication solutions, empowering businesses to transcend traditional technological limitations and seamlessly integrate into a cloud-powered operational ecosystem.

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast
Disability discrimination, applications, students at work

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2024 44:44


This week on the podcast the University of Bristol has lost its appeal over a student suicide case - we discuss the implications. Plus the January deadline UCAS figures are out, and we look at the rise in hours that students are spending in paid employment.(CW: Suicide, depression, mental health)With Eve Alcock, Director of Public Affairs at QAA, Ben Whittaker, Chief Executive at LSE Students' Union, James Coe, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe.When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shadowrunnin' On Empty
Shadowrunnin' On Empty - A Shadowrun Lore Podcast: Episode 58 - Welcome To Everett

Shadowrunnin' On Empty

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2024 84:47


Hoi Chummer we are getting to end of our Metroplex tour. We are taking a look at the most northern district Everett. Not only is the UCAS naval base here but the largest federated Boeing facility. Be sure to stay tuned till the end as there is an extra special dive into a super serious gang that operates out of this district! ~We also have an actual play podcast! Tune into our weekly adventures in SINless, here on Spotify ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7A1SkBE7i56Wj8WA32HtaM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or over on YouTube ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.complaylist?list=PLwEO24mRuGCRtGlUGZhQudTSQd5o8ekUw⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~Interested in supporting us? Five Nuyen a month over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/critical_hits⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ gets you a bunch of bonus benefits! Check it out chummer! ~Need Shadowrun books or products? We've got you covered! Our affiliate code over on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2216/Catalyst-Game-Labs?3537587⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ not only gives you the gear to keep all your runners chromed up and fit, but it helps us out too! just drop the code: ?3537587 at the end of the browser link and not only get the books you need, but help us keep the doors open and the lights on while you're at it chummer! ~We also play stuff on twitch for our own amusement. Under no circumstances should you watch us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitch.tv/criticalhitslive⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ since the whole thing is in poor taste and you're clearly better than that.

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast
Fraud, market exit, applications, living wage

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2024 50:53


This week on the podcast the National Audit Office reports on organised crime and fraud in franchise agreements - is the regulation right and are the incentives appropriate? Plus we discuss the prospect of a university going under, there's new UCAS figures out and who's paying the Real Living Wage?With Nicola Dandridge, Professor of Practice in Higher Education Policy at University of Bristol, Jonathan Grant, Director at Different Angles, Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Music You're Missing

Joined by guest host, Boston-based bedroom pop artist Layzi, Brendan Jeannetti welcomes l.ucas to the brand new Music You're Missing studio at B Studios ahead of the release of his debut album, "How Am I Supposed To Feel?" l.ucas shares insights into his unique and resourceful approach to his independent artist career, producing for other artists, collaborating with Layzi on "Deep End," and how his debut album came together.Listen to Deep End streaming at the number one spot on the Music You're Missing Spotify Playlist now! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Uj5cxuTitTFGwxI9RPCwT?si=6fcf4e548d97448bFOLLOW l.ucas: https://bio.to/l.ucasFOLLOW LAYZI:https://linktr.ee/layziFOLLOW MUSIC YOU'RE MISSING:https://www.musicyouremissing.org/FOLLOW BRENDAN JEANNETTI: https://www.instagram.com/brendanjeannetti/https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjeannetti/Music You're Missing is a top music podcast based in Boston, Massachusetts. For all inquiries, email musicyouremissingpodcast@gmail.com.

All About Apprenticeships
All About Sport

All About Apprenticeships

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2023 25:22


In this episode of All About Apprenticeships, we're lifting the lid on apprenticeships in proferssional sport. Careers in professional sport are notoriously short - so how can apprenticeships prepare athletes for life after sport and what role do they play in helping young sporting stars stay on top of their game?Joining host Georgie Frost for this one are Liam Hurt, who played professional cricket for Lancashire and Derbyshire, but is now pursuing a new career in plumbing; Tye Raymont, who is in his first year as a professional rugby player at Sale Sharks - alongside his rugby he's doing a business management apprenticeship; and Andrew Jibson, the assistant academy manager at Sale Sharks.You can find Checkatrade's brand new apprenticeship and skills channel Home - About Apprenticeships and while you're there, you can also check out our Jobs Board to find an apprenticeship that's perfect for you.You can find more information about apprenticeships at @national_careers_service or head to Amazing Apprenticeships or UCAS for up to date information on current apprenticeship vacancies.

HEP Talks
The Education Brief: 30 September 2023

HEP Talks

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2023 12:10


The Education Brief: Saturday 30 September 2023 - Top stories include: Ofsted's national director of education Chris Russell will retire at the end of this year. Ofqual's chief regulator Dr Jo Saxton will take a new role as chief executive of UCAS. The government and a youth charity will spend £5.8 million on four projects to examine whether contested trauma-informed practice helps keep children safe. Eight education unions want the government to invest £4.4 billion annually in school buildings. This week's deep dive:  Persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils - report from the parliamentary education committee We'll also tell you what's happening at HEP this week and what we've been watching, listening to, and reading! Watching Listening Reading  Music by Slo Pony

The Physician Associate Podcast
The hidden costs of being a physician associate student

The Physician Associate Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2023 24:26


In this episode, we hear from Sabina Patel, a final year PA student and National student representative to the FPA on why she changed careers from companion diagnostics to a physician associate degree. We also talk about some of the help available to students during the current cost of living crisis as well as common questions to the FPA. If you'd like to find out more, Sabina can be contacted via LinkedIn or at sp31hcs@bolton.ac.uk Find out more about Student Finance England and UCAS about tuition fees. Some universities may off additional help with fuel or living costs - more information can be found on the finance page of the respective university. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/physician-associate/message

Your College Bound Kid | Scholarships, Admission, & Financial Aid Strategies
YCBK 357: How college admissions has changed since the 1980's and the 1990's

Your College Bound Kid | Scholarships, Admission, & Financial Aid Strategies

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2023 100:37


In this episode you will hear:   (02:45) Mark Stucker moderates a discussion between Susan Tree and Mark Hatch, the VP of enrollment at Colorado College. Susan and Mark Hatch walk us through all the major changes in admissions and college counseling, decade by decade from the 1980's all the way up to the 2020's. This is a riveting two part discussion. Part 1 focuses on the 1980's and the 1990's. Next Thursday, Episode 359 will focus on 2000-2023     (41:20) Mark and Lisa answer a question from Maya,  a mom from Southern California who wants to know, how can I find a college for my black child that will be a safe space and where she won't be only one of a handful of black kids in her class?   (51:28) Mark and Julia continue their with Lee Coffin, the Vice Provost of enrollment at Dartmouth College. Mark and Julia ask Lee tough questions about the current landscape of college admissions. Each segment is around 20 minutes. This is part 2 of 4. After this series is over, for the following three weeks, Lee does  a College Spotlight on Dartmouth College.    Preview of Part 2 o   Lee continues talking about how Early Decision o   Julia asks Lee if not submitting test scores puts a student at a disadvantage at Dartmouth and Lee breaks some news that I don't think many people know about o   Lee answers the question of what role do AP scores play in admissions decisions o   How do you evaluate the student who does not submit his/her test scores?   (01:02:12) Recommended Resource: Book:   by Gaelle Pierre Louis   (01:13:42) For our College Spotlight, Kevin Newton talks about a unique opportunity for students interested in UCAS schools in Europe. Part 1 of 2   Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe.   You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. If you have a question for one of our upcoming interviews with admissions professionals, here is a list of admissions professionals who we will interview in 2023 or 2024 Confirmed interviews not yet completed Bard-Mackie Siebens Rice University-Tamara Siler American University-Andrea Felder Pitzer College-Yvonne Berumen Chapman University-Marcela Meija-Martinez Connecticut College-Andy Strickler* Trinity College-Anthony Berry* College of the Atlantic-Heather Albert* Spelman College-Chelsea Holley* Scripps College-Victoria Romero* Saint Louis University-Daniel Wood-(Interview is about transfer admissions, Daniel is a transfer counselor) Colby College-Randi Arsenault* University of Georgia-David Graves* University of Minnesota-Keri Risic Cornell University-Jonathon Burdick Oberlin College-Manuel Carballo Carleton College-Art Rodriguez Swarthmore-Jim Bok Joy St. Johns-Harvard Duke-Christoph Guttentag Florida State-John Barnhill Southern Methodist University-Elena Hicks Johns Hopkins-Calvin Wise Cornell University-Shawn Felton Haverford College-Jess Lord UAspire-Brendan Williams Yale University-Moira Poe Bard College Baylor University Butler University California Institute of Technology-Ashley Pallie Colorado School of Mines Creighton University University of Puget Sound- Robin Aijian Belmont University University of Tennessee-Knoxville Law School Admissions interview-Lydia Emory University-Sarbeth Fleming   To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup.   Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions:   Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news, and updates about the podcast before they go live. You can ask questions on Twitter that he will answer on the podcast. Mark will also share additional hot topics in the news and breaking news on this Twitter feed. Twitter message is also the preferred way to ask questions for our podcast:   https://twitter.com/YCBKpodcast   1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript   We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK.   Please subscribe to our podcast. It really helps us move up in Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast.   If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful!   If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live.   Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends:   Check out the college websites Mark recommends:   If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link:     If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa or Lynda, just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email Lisa at or Lynda at Lynda@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

All About Apprenticeships
All About the Exams....and what comes next.

All About Apprenticeships

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2023 27:17


In this episode of All About Apprenticeships, it's all about the exam results....and what comes next. The dust has settled on another year of GCSE and A-Level results and that means it's decision time for millions of young people.But how do you know what the best option is, where do you look for help and how has the landscape changed for the class of 2023?  Joining Georgie Frost are Natasha Devon, a mental health campaigner who helps schools and students manage the transition from college or sixth form to the next stage, whether that's an apprenticeship, work, uni or a gap year. She's also the author of ‘Yes You Can - Ace School Without Losing Your Mind'. You can find Natasha on Instagram @_natashadevon.And Helen Everett, a careers advisor and the careers leader at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School.You can find Checkatrade's brand new apprenticeship and skills channel Home - About Apprenticeships and while you're there, you can also check out our Jobs Board to find an apprenticeship that's perfect for you.You can find more information about apprenticeships at @national_careers_service or head to Amazing Apprenticeships or UCAS for up to date information on current apprenticeship vacancies.

Coffee House Shots
Results day: is the worst of the pandemic over for students?

Coffee House Shots

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2023 12:12


As A-level students receive their exam results, Cindy Yu speaks to Isabel Hardman and Mary Curnock Cook who is the former chief executive of UCAS. In a bid to curb recent grade inflation, fewer of the top results have been handed out to students who were the first year group to sit through pandemic style examinations. Can the government return to 2019 levels this summer? Produced by Cindy Yu and Natasha Feroze. 

So You Want To Be a Vet?
UCAS: Our Best Personal Statement Advice

So You Want To Be a Vet?

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 14, 2023 22:41


Welcome back to the 'So You Want To Be A Vet?' podcast! Join us in this episode where we discuss our top tips for how to write your veterinary personal statement! This can be really tricky so tune in for our advice on things to avoid but also things to definitely include! Thinking of becoming a vet but have no clue where to start? Look no further than ‘So You Want To Be a Vet?', a brand new FREE series from Vet Mentor! Join vet students Bronte and Verity as they interview successful vet students from each of the UK Vet Schools in their 'OpenPod' series, share the insights of fantastic vets in the industry and cover everything from specialisms and research to discrimination in the practice - think BIG, we have some great guests lined up!Follow our Instagram @soyouwanttobeavet to keep up to date with all our releases! If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see us talk about, then drop us an email at vetpodcast@medicmentorfamily.org---------------Motivate Me by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

All About Apprenticeships
All About Influencers

All About Apprenticeships

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2023 26:19


In this episode of All About Apprenticeships, we're asking, how do we encourage the next generation of apprentices? And could a new breed of trade influencers hold the key?Joining Georgie Frost are electricians Amy Barratt-Singh and Danny Webb, who started their trade careers in their late 20s. They have since established their own company called 'The Power Couple,' where they share a passion for inspiring young individuals to pursue a career in the trades.You can find Amy on Instagram @amythesparky - and Danny @sparkymilan.You can find Checkatrade's brand new apprenticeship and skills channel Home - About Apprenticeships and while you're there, you can also check out our Jobs Board to find an apprenticeship that's perfect for you.You can find more information about apprenticeships at @national_careers_service or head to Amazing Apprenticeships or UCAS for up to date information on current apprenticeship vacancies.

All About Apprenticeships
All About Training Providers

All About Apprenticeships

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2023 31:48


In this episode of All About Apprenticeships, sponsored by Checkatrade.com, host Georgie Frost explores the role of apprenticeship training providers with Jill Whittaker, the CEO of HIT Training, the market leading expert ‘apprenticeship and training provider' for the UK's hospitality and catering industry, and KATE TAYLOR, the apprenticeship operations manager at City and Guilds Electrical Training.We also hear from PAUL JOYCE, Ofsted's Deputy Director for Further Education and Skills and RICHARD PEMBLE, a Specialist Adviser in Policy, Quality and Training at Ofsted, on the state of the nation's training providers, and what goes into making sure training providers are offering the very best training. You can find Checkatrade's brand new apprenticeship and skills channel Home - About Apprenticeships and while you're there, you can also check out our Jobs Board to find an apprenticeship that's perfect for you.You can find more information about apprenticeships at @national_careers_service or head to Amazing Apprenticeships or UCAS for up to date information on current apprenticeship vacancies.

Teenage Kicks Podcast
Mental health at university with TikTok's Champagne Socialist

Teenage Kicks Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2023 53:47


Today's guest is Harry, aka the Champagne Socialist on TikTok. I found Harry through one of his irreverent but astute commentaries on the political landscape. Harry has a no-nonsense view on UK politics, and is raising awareness amongst young people of his generation of how they can influence what's happening in their world. We talk about what it's like choosing a university degree course, what kind of doors open for you while you're there, and how to approach the myriad opportunities a university degree offers. That said, Harry told me that university isn't a golden ticket. University is much more accessible to more people now, which is a good thing, but what that means is that most young people looking for their first serious job will have a degree - it doesn't set you apart. Harry says that's why it's so important to think about what else you can do to make yourself stand out, over and above the learning you'll gain during your course. He also told me that extra-curricular activity like Duke of Edinburgh awards and NCS aren't likely to improve your chances of UCAS offers from the best universities. Instead, Harry says take every opportunity to learn that's offered to you, get involved in other things outside of school and university - things you can add to your CV, and things that will expand your point of view on the world, that employers will be interested in. Harry says it can feel demoralising to have a great education and a good brain, and to still be struggling to get your ideal job. We talk about what it was like being a student during Covid lockdown - it sounds so hard, and if this was you or your child, you'll relate. Harry talks about his diagnosis of autism as a teenager, and how that affected his mental health at university during the pandemic. Who is the Champagne Socialist? 22 year old Harry started his satirical analysis of UK politics as part of a module for his university course, but it grew so quickly that he continued it long after the project was over, highlighting young people's views on the biggest failures of our government. He now has 123k followers, and is recognised by followers who attend events just because they've seen Harry talk about them.   As well as producing content for TikTok, Harry is also developing a podcast where he talks about the British and global political landscape. More teenage parenting from Helen Wills: Helen wills is a teen mental health podcaster and blogger at Actually Mummy, a resource for midlife parents of teens. Thank you for listening! Subscribe to the Teenage Kicks podcast to hear new episodes. If you have a suggestion for the podcast please email teenagekickspodcast@gmail.com. There are already stories from fabulous guests about difficult things that happened to them as teenagers - including losing a parent, becoming a young carer, and being hospitalised with mental health problems - and how they overcame things to move on with their lives. You can find more from Helen Wills on parenting teenagers on Instagram and Twitter @iamhelenwills. For information on your data privacy please visit Podcast.co. Please note that Helen Wills is not a medical expert, and nothing in the podcast should be taken as medical advice. If you're worried about yourself or a teenager, please seek support from a medical professional. Podcast produced by James Ede at Be Heard production.

So You Want To Be a Vet?
4th year at Surrey!

So You Want To Be a Vet?

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2023 30:57


Welcome back to the 'So You Want To Be A Vet?' podcast! Join us in this episode where we chat to our special guest Tia about 4th year of vet school at the University of Surrey! Listen in to hear about getting clinical experience in fourth year, intercalation, and advice about starting vet school. Thinking of becoming a vet but have no clue where to start? Look no further than ‘So You Want To Be a Vet?', a brand new FREE series from Vet Mentor! Join vet students Bronte and Verity as they talk through UCAS and give you extra tips to ace those interviews. Follow our Instagram @soyouwanttobeavet to keep up to date with all our releases! If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see us talk about, then drop us an email at vetpodcast@medicmentorfamily.org --------------- Motivate Me by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

So You Want To Be a Vet?
3rd year at RVC!

So You Want To Be a Vet?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2023 33:41


Welcome back to the 'So You Want To Be A Vet?' podcast! Join us in this episode where Bronte is getting her turn on the hot seat and talking all about 3rd year of vet school and her time at the RVC. Tune in to hear some great advice about dealing with vet school and believing in yourself! Thinking of becoming a vet but have no clue where to start? Look no further than ‘So You Want To Be a Vet?', a brand new FREE series from Vet Mentor! Join vet students Bronte and Verity as they talk through UCAS and give you extra tips to ace those interviews. Follow our Instagram @soyouwanttobeavet to keep up to date with all our releases! If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see us talk about, then drop us an email at vetpodcast@medicmentorfamily.org --------------- Motivate Me by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

So You Want To Be a Vet?
Second Year at Bristol!

So You Want To Be a Vet?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2023 17:56


Welcome back to the 'So You Want To Be A Vet?' podcast! Join us in this episode where we have a special guest, Parisha, who is a second year student at Bristol University. Tune in for discussions about Bristol, retaking a year, and the jump between first and second year! Thinking of becoming a vet but have no clue where to start? Look no further than ‘So You Want To Be a Vet?', a brand new FREE series from Vet Mentor! Join vet students Bronte and Verity as they talk through UCAS and give you extra tips to ace those interviews. Follow our Instagram @soyouwanttobeavet to keep up to date with all our releases! If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see us talk about, then drop us an email at vetpodcast@medicmentorfamily.org --------------- Motivate Me by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

So You Want To Be a Vet?
First Year at Harper & Keele!

So You Want To Be a Vet?

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2023 36:01


Welcome back to the 'So You Want To Be A Vet?' podcast! Join us in this episode where we have a special guest, Jess, who is a first year student at Harper & Keele. Listen in for tips about first year and how H&K teach their vet degree. Thinking of becoming a vet but have no clue where to start? Look no further than ‘So You Want To Be a Vet?', a brand new FREE series from Vet Mentor! Join vet students Bronte and Verity as they talk through UCAS and give you extra tips to ace those interviews. Follow our Instagram @soyouwanttobeavet to keep up to date with all our releases! If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see us talk about, then drop us an email at vetpodcast@medicmentorfamily.org --------------- Motivate Me by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com

All About Apprenticeships
A new start: National Apprenticeship Week and Robert Halfon MP

All About Apprenticeships

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2023 19:32


We are back with season four of All About Apprenticeships, and this time we're sponsored by Checkatrade.com.And what better way to kick off a new (monthly) series than by talking to the brand new (reappointed) Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon during the week in the year dedicated to all things apprenticeships - National Apprenticeship Week.Mr Halfon tells host Georgie Frost how he plans to ‘build and apprenticeships and skills nation', what ignited his passion for apprenticeships and why 'degree apprenticeship' are his two favourite words.  You can find Checkatrade's brand new apprenticeship and skills channel Home - About Apprenticeships and while you're there, you can also check out our Jobs Board to find an apprenticeship that's perfect for you.For more on National Apprenticeship Week check out National Apprenticeship Week |, you can also find more information about apprenticeships at @national_careers_service or head to Amazing Apprenticeships or UCAS for up to date information on current apprenticeship vacancies.

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast
Demand, student hardship, loans reform

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2023 44:33


This week on the podcast we interrogate UCAS end of cycle data - what is going on with demand for higher education? Plus the Sutton Trust has new research out on the impacts of the cost of living crisis on students, and the Lords are leaping over student loan reform.With Clare Marchant, Chief Executive at UCAS, Amatey Doku, Consultant at Moorhouse Consulting, Sunday Blake, Associate Editor at Wonkhe and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast
Drugs, year ahead, study tour

The Wonkhe Show - the higher education podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2023 27:57


This week on the podcast we're in Münster, Germany for the Wonkhe SUs study tour. Jim and guests from the bus trip discuss the HE policy year ahead, drugs on campus, and what we might learn from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Plus DK dives into the UCAS end of cycle data.With India Ellis, President at Lancaster SU, Alexander Robinson, President at the SU Bath University, Gary Hughes, CEO at Durham SU and presented by Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at Wonkhe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2Scientists
The pharmacovigilante

2Scientists

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2022 66:23


He's here, he's there; Dr. Hillman brings drug safety everywhere! So given the rules and regulations he needs to follow, the title “vigilante” could be nothing but ironic.We chart David's progress through choosing pharmacology as a subject to study, and settling on pharmacovigilance as a career to pursue. Listen: The Bollywood beats come courtesy of Cambridge-based artist Anish Kumar whose music you can also find on Bandcamp: anishkumarmusic.bandcamp.com, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.Watch:Subscribe to our YouTube channel now for all future recordings. Episode transcript[Background intro music playing is "Nazia" by Anish Kumar]Parmvir: Hello everyone. And welcome to another episode of the 2Scientists podcast, where inspiring scientists share their work with you, wherever you like to listen. Today we come to you from a rather unique spot, rather than a cafe or bar we are camped out in Kensington Gardens in London, because it's a glorious day and our podcasting equipment allows us to do that. But enough about me and us, we are here today, of course I am your host Parmvir Bahia here and we're here with David Basanta, but we also have with us another David who is very special to me, he is an old friend of mine from my PhD program, and we shared much time and much swearing over experiments together at University college London. How are you David Hillman? David: I'm doing well. Thank you. It's, as you say, it's a, it's a lovely day and, it's nice to be back with old friends. Parmvir: Yes, yes. Of course everything rotates background to COVID and whereas we would normally see each other once a year. It's been three, four, possibly? David: Three, I think that's yeah.Parmvir: Miserable. David: Yeah. Sad times we shall have to make up for it. Parmvir: We will, we will. There's a bottle of Cava with our name on it. Once we've done with this. David: And onion rings. Parmvir: And onion rings. Yes. Fancy Marks and Spencer's one's though. So let's start at the beginning. I'm not talking about like, where were you born kind of thing. Although you can mention Kidderminster if you'd like. So as I understand it, we had a relatively similar track as undergraduates. So you did a bachelor's in pharmacology, correct? David: Yeah, that's right. Parmvir: So tell us why, why pharmacology? David: So this is gonna age me, age us.So I, for my A levels, so for my senior school exams, I, studied chemistry, biology, and maths, and I wanted to study something at university that combined chemistry and biology. And so this is the bit that will age us. So back in the day, if you remember, you would go to the, career advice department who were trying to help people to steer people towards what options they might want to pick at university.And they had this huge telephone directory effectively, which, mapped together people's different, combinations of A level courses and then gave you a list of options that you could, study at university. So I was sat in this little tiny room with this career advisor person, and they were basically running through this list of different courses.And when they came to pharmacology, they'd already mentioned pharmacy, which, you know, most people know what it is, but then they said pharmacology and I stopped them and said, well, what's, what's the difference? And they actually gave a pretty good summary. They said, it's more the biology of medicine. It's more the, the research and development of new medicines. They said it's potentially a controversial topic because it's the pharmaceutical industry is itself sometimes controversial and there's other aspects to the industry, which are, challenging sometimes. But yeah, that's how it started. So I picked a few different pharmacology courses, one of which was King's College London. I was always very practical, so I liked the idea of doing a year in industry at some point. So I chose a sandwich course like you and yeah, so that took me to KCL all that time ago. Parmvir: Mm. So I didn't realize how similar our tracks had been, because I also did biology, chemistry and maths, and I wanted to do something with the chemistry and the biology.And I got put in that direction by David: did you pick it out of the phone book as well? Parmvir: I did. What was it called? There was a name for it. David: It was pretty like a UCAS publication. Parmvir: Yes. It was just, it was enormous. David: Yeah. Parmvir: But yeah, in any case, I also, I did a sandwich year and I got to go and hang out in Germany for a year, which was fun.But yeah. So obviously after that you came to do a PhD at UCL where we were, well, I was a year ahead of you, I think. David: Yeah. You were. Parmvir: Why? Why did you do a PhD? David: So well for the reasons that I guess a lot of people do them, which is that I wasn't sure what to do next [both laugh] and a PhD seemed like a good way to string it out for another few years before I figured that out.But the reason I landed on UCL was that when I did go and do my year in industry, which like you was for a large pharma company, I worked in a lab looking at some non-clinical safety models. And we were using electrophysiology techniques at the time that was sharp electrode electrophysiology.Parmvir: You're gonna have to explain what electrophysiology means. David: Oh, don't make me do that. It's been 20 years [Parmvir laughs]. Oh, it's basically where you take either isolated cells or tissues and you put tiny, tiny electrodes into them and measure the changing currents across cell membranes. And as you put different drugs on, you can look at different effects of those drugs how they affect the electrical signals that you can measure.And really it's ions moving back and forward across membranes by little things called ion channels. So yeah, so I'd done sharp electrode electrophysiology there. I went back to university to finish my last year, and then the question came up about what to pick for a PhD. And I thought, well, although I hadn't enjoyed electrophysiology, it's something that I had started to, I guess, gain an interest in. Plus I had some skills that in that area. So, yeah, so I found a course, rather a PhD studentship at UCL, which seemed to fit the bill. It was looking at using a slightly different electrophysiology technique, so patch, clamping in a different area, but I thought it was something that I could use what I'd learnt in my year in industry Parmvir: I gave you some of these questions beforehand. David: Yes, because I'm incapable of spontaneous reaction to questions [Parmvir laughs]. Parmvir: Actually, I loved it so much that I have to read out your description of what your memory is like. David: I was quite proud of that. I coined that yesterday. I used to think of my memory as a lobster pot. Parmvir: All right. So you said I've just come up with a good analogy for my recall memory. It's like a reference library. You have to put in a request and then go away for a bit. When you come back, I'll have retrieved something from the vaults. Hopefully. David: Yeah, exactly. Parmvir: But aside from that I wanted to say this might be something of a loaded question, but what did you think of your PhD experience?David: You know, I really, I look back on those years with fond memory. Now it's partly because looking back, you edit out all of the stress and anxiety associated with doing a research project like that. I remember at the time when I first started UCL ran some induction courses where they pulled together PhD students and other postgraduate students from all sorts of backgrounds and John Foreman who you'll remember who was the Dean of students at the time, he gave a little introduction to UCL, but also gave some interesting advice let's say and pointers.And one of the things he pointed out in that session was the high degree of mental illness that is encountered by students in general taking these types of courses because they are stressful. And you often feel like you are kind of on your own. Driving your own research project forward. Sometimes through difficult times. So I do remember that in particular, but you know, what I remember mostly is just how impressed I was with all of the people that surrounded me because our department was not particularly flashy in its kind of presentation, but there were some seriously impressive people there.So I always like to think of our lab in the sense of, you know, it was run by effectively by Dennis and, and Guy when we got there. But before then it had been run by Don and before then it had been run by Bernard Katz who was a Nobel laureate. So it felt like we were the either grandchildren or great grandchildren of a Nobel Laureate and the whole department was a bit like that. It had a lot of very understated people who were world experts in their, in their field. And I always felt like the dumbest person in the department. But that didn't bother me too much because you know, being surrounded by all this greatness and even just, you know, the little glimpses of things you would see at the kind of coffee breaks and in the corridors, some of those memories still live with me, you know. Bearing in mind, this was back in what, between 2001 and 2005.So very, very early days of smartphones, things like trios and things like that, which seem antiquated now. But I remember coming across two old professors, so probably in their seventies or eighties comparing their smartphones and that like little microcosm, are the things that I loved about the department.Parmvir: Actually, I mean, I think you're, you're definitely selling yourself short. Like nobody would say that you weren't smart enough to be there. And I think one of the things that kind of ties into the, the mental health aspect is that we all felt that way. David: Yeah. Parmvir: Except we didn't express it to anyone else. It's, it's utterly ridiculous. How can we all be the least smart person in the room that's just not possible. David: Yeah. Parmvir: And after that, we all got our PhDs anyway, so, you know yeah. David: I certainly have no regrets about it. And I look back on those times with, with very fond memories, for sure. Parmvir: Yeah. Just talk briefly about what you did for your project and what the difficulties were.David: So the lab that I joined, so which, which you were a part of as well, their specialty was calcium activated potassium channels. And over time, the lab had looked at these ion channels in various different settings. The project that I was given was looking at these channels in vascular endothelial cells, which was a cell type that no one in the lab had ever studied before.Parmvir: Mm. David: So one of the biggest challenges that we were hit with straight away was that no one in the lab could really help that much with firsthand experience of how to obtain these cells, how to isolate them, how to culture them, how to grow them and really how to manage those cell types. So you might well remember that, the first, probably nine months of my PhD was just spent trying to culture these cells. Parmvir: Mm-hmm David: and it started with you know, available tissue from rats and other small mammals.But then eventually we were not having success with culturing cells from those models. So I switched onto pigs and, you know, I'd done a bit of reading that, you know, these vessels, because they were much larger the blood vessels, it was easier effectively to culture cells from, so I looked in the phone book and I found the address of an abattoir out in the middle of Essex.And there began my weekly trip for getting on for two and a half years to the deepest, darkest corners of Essex to go and retrieve pig, coronary artery cells once a week. Parmvir: Yeah. And essentially you suffered because these things were so flat. [David laughs] And when you're trying to, so you, for anyone who's listening, you have to picture trying to get a very, very fine tube onto something that is incredibly flat, and essentially you need this thing to form a vacuum seal and that just wasn't gonna happen. David: No, so, you know, vascular endothelial cells, they're the cells that line blood vessels, which is why they're, they're very flat. They're like tiles almost on the inside of veins and arteries.And you know, with other cells in the lab that were being looked at like the ones that you were looking at, like DRGs and like neurons and things like that, you know, you were basically putting the, the electrode down onto like a ball. Parmvir: Yeah. David: So the gap between the bottom of the dish and the top of the cell was who knows, 10, 20 microns, something like that. The cells that we were looking at, they flattened themselves out so much, they were about one micron, I think we estimated and therefore the tiniest vibration in the room would destroy the cell. And yeah, so the first stage was trying to culture, the damn things, and that was extremely challenging. It took a long time, but nine months of the way through managed it, and then began the whole pain of trying to get electrical recordings from them, which turned out to be as difficult. Parmvir: Yeah. So one of the things, I don't know if we ever talked about this, but what did you aspire to do after you'd done your PhD originally?Like, did you have any kind of idea? David: I mean, I think I was always headed into the pharmaceutical industry, which is where I landed up. In my undergrad degree in, I think my either first or second year, I did a very nice course, which was a kind of practical introduction to the pharmaceutical industry and from very top level, how drugs are developed and how pharma companies are organized internally and how the research progresses. And that, I'd always found that interesting. I mean, I find the entire pharmaceutical industry absolutely fascinating. And still do to this day. It's such an amazingly complex industry. And so, yeah, so I think I'd always been heading in that direction. Sure enough, the PhD certainly made me decide I was done with bench science [Parmvir laughs]. So, you know, by the time you've spent three plus years plodding along with these experiments that have a success rate of one in 50 sometimes. Parmvir: Yeah. David: You know, days and weeks without getting any data, and towards the end, still being in the lab at three o'clock in the morning, trying to get something to work and breaking more and more glassware as time goes on [Parmvir laughs]Yeah, I decided I was done with bench science, although I loved being in the labs, I loved playing in the labs. But I was never that into the kind of reading of the scientific papers and that sort of thing. Once it came down to maths and things like that, I wasn't so engaged. I needed to see practical things. Parmvir: Yeah. I feel like at some point we realized we were both some kind of engineer at heart rather than David: Yeah. Maybe Parmvir: scientist, David: maybe. Parmvir: It's more like, how does this work rather than trying to answer a bigger scientific question. David: Yeah. Parmvir: But obviously you were, you were a little bit scarred by your experience there, and you ended up going off in, I guess, a very different track from what the standard academic education leads you towards. So I think at this point this might be a good place to put your disclaimer in. David: Yes. So I work in the pharmaceutical industry and over time I've worked for, and with a variety of different companies.Any of the content that I describe today are my opinions and my opinions alone, and often they're really based off things which are in the public domain. In fact it's all based off things that were in the public domain and also some of the education that I've received, because actually, even after I finished my PhD, I then years later went on to study a, another academic course specifically in pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology.Parmvir: Oh, where did you do that? David: London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Parmvir: Oh. David: And it's interesting because it's a short course and I felt was a very valuable course. It's a course where regulatory authorities also send their people to learn too. Parmvir: So there's a lot of questions I can ask next.But one of the things that your job description throws up is this word "pharmacovigilance". What does that mean? David: Okay. So somewhere because I'm not gonna do it justice from memory, I'm going to read out the WHO definition of pharmacovigilance. It doesn't roll off the tongue, unfortunately, which is why it's never quite there in my head.So per the WHO: pharmacovigilance is the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects, or any other medicine, or vaccine-related problem. So essentially it is the process and the science relating to drug side effects. Now as you'll remember from pharmacology days, very early on, you're taught that all pharmacologically active substances, if it applies to the human body have side effects. The same side effects are not encountered by every person.And you know, some of the side effects might have obvious clinical manifestations. Some might not, you might get side effects, never know you've had them. And of course they vary massively in severity. So when you are looking at a medicine, particularly one that you're introducing to kind of general use in humans, you have a trade-off to make because you have an expected therapeutic benefit, but you also have to be mindful of potential side effects, particularly serious side effects and how much tolerance you have for those versus the good that the drug is supposed to do.And achieving that balance is one of the big challenges that's faced in drug development.Parmvir: So what you do really, it kind of comes at the end of the whole process of clinical trials and so on for given products, right? David: It actually starts right at the beginning of clinical development.So. Parmvir: Oh, hang on, I have to ask David's question: does that make you a Pharmacovigilante? David: [David and Parmvir laugh] I've often wondered the same thing myself. But yeah, so pharmacovigilance takes off really where toxicology leaves. So before you can put a drug into clinical development, by which I mean development in humans, drugs first have to go through preclinical development and that's where all the various toxicology studies are run.Parmvir: Can you quickly define toxicology for us? David: Sure. It is really focusing on the well, the potentially toxic side of medicines. So before you put a drug anywhere near a human, you want to be absolutely certain that it doesn't cause various catastrophic side effects in humans.So, for example, you need to be confident that it doesn't cause cancer. You need to be confident that it's not gonna cause a heart attack immediately, or cause a stroke immediately or things like that. So as per regulations in pretty much every country in the world, before you put a drug anywhere near a human in a clinical trial, it has to go through a standard set of tests.And there's various ways to achieve that. You know, sometimes those are tests using computer simulated models. Sometimes they are using individual cells or cultured cells or tissues. And sometimes as is well known in the industry they're using animal models and these are legally required tests.So every drug that goes through the process has to go through these. So that's done before it gets to clinical development. And then you start with phase one clinical trials which are studies on, usually on healthy volunteers and they're very small trials. They involve perhaps a few tens of patients. And the only purpose of those trials is to look at the safety and tolerability of the drug. So this is the first time you're putting the drug into humans. There is a bit of an exception to that. So although these are usually conducted on healthy volunteers, for some drugs, including, for example oncology drugs. Those drugs are usually along the more kind of toxic end of agents, so it's not ethical to put those into healthy volunteers. So sometimes those studies are conducted in a patient population. So once a drug moves into human studies into phase one, from that point, really for the rest of the lifetime of that drug as a human medicine pharmacovigilance is involved. So all the way through the phase one, two and three studies and then once the drug goes onto the market, pharmacovigilance continues.So the companies or the pharmaceutical or biotech companies that are developing these assets have a legal requirement to collect and analyze this data on an ongoing basis pretty much forever. Until that drug is eventually, perhaps if it's lucky enough to get to the market, until it's withdrawn from the market, perhaps many decades later.Parmvir: Very good. And I think that there are probably some very topical things that have come up recently as a result of COVID 19, which is important to consider when we're talking about these things, in that we are not just relying on these clinical trials that have gone out to ensure that these things are safe, but once they're out there that you have to continue to get feedback from people who are taking these to ensure that they continue to be safe in the long term, right?David: That's true. So, you know, ordinarily in clinical development, once you get through phase 1, 2, 3, and if you are lucky enough to have a drug, which is sufficiently efficacious, tolerable to go to market, then yes, you know, the drug's released to market and you continue to monitor for this stuff.Vaccines are in a particularly special category because they are drugs that are given to healthy people. Mm yes. And so therefore the benefit risk balance is more complicated in some ways, because , you know, it's, it's hard to consider the benefit to the individual of taking a product when they don't yet have that disease.So now there are other drugs that are in a similar category, other drugs that are given to healthy people. This is where I can ask you some questions. So what, what do you think those other drugs include? Parmvir: Oh, goodness. Um, I'm trying to think off the top of my head, what they might be. David: Yeah. It's very unfair. Parmvir: All I can think of at the moment are the other vaccines. David: Okay. So, Parmvir: but there are lots of prophylactic things. Yeah. Yeah. I can't think of anything David: Contraceptives. Parmvir: The obvious prophylactic. Yes. David: Drugs used for travel. So things like anti-malaria tablets. Parmvir: Oh yeah. David: Drugs used for things like smoking cessation Parmvir: mm-hmmDavid: stuff like that.So again, these are all drugs that are generally given to healthy people. So, you know, and this is where benefit risk balance comes into sharp focus, because if you have a drug that has been developed to treat a very hard to treat cancer, let's say, then when you consider benefit risk balance you know, if these patients are effectively going to die without a treatment, and this is the only treatment available, you might be able to accept that a drug has a one in a hundred chance of causing a fatal stroke. Particularly if that drug is given in hospital and these things can be, can be managed. If however, you are developing a cough medicine, then your tolerance for any type of dangerous side effects is basically zero, and of course, many drugs elsewhere on that scale. So yeah, benefit risk balance is a key part of what has to be looked at during drug development. And yeah, as we say, vaccines are particularly challenging. Often these days when a new drug is developed the clinical development and the studies don't stop necessarily when the drug is released for marketing. So, often as a condition of the marketing authorizations that are granted for these drugs, there have to be continuing studies to look at safety. These are called post-authorization safety studies. And so there's ongoing collection of data in a rigorous way to keep monitoring for various things. Either new things that we didn't know about the drug before, because of course when you're in clinical development, your number of patients is normally quite small Parmvir: mm-hmm David: so you're less likely to spot very rare side effects. You wouldn't usually detect a one in 50,000 probability side effect in a clinical trial cohort. Parmvir: Yeah. David: But sometimes these post authorization safety studies allow you to pick up more of that and enable you to characterize some of the side effects that you do know about more in detail.Parmvir: Yeah. So David B here asks essentially how long do these things go on after the drug's been on the market? For example, is there still pharmacovigilance for aspirin? David: Yes. Every single drug that has a marketing authorization out there it is the law in pretty much every country in the world that all safety data that becomes available to the marketing authorization holders, that's the company that owns the rights to the drug and effectively sells the drug, they're required by law to collect process, analyze and report this data. Now as drugs age, the natural reporting rate for some of these drugs drops so the probability of a physician or a pharmacist or a nurse, or even a patient reporting a side effect probably drops over time because theses are not new medicines anymore, but even so, any data that is collected has to go through that process, which is the pharmacovigilance that we were referring to earlier. In addition to that, all companies with marketing authorizations have to look at scientific and medical literature. It all has to be reviewed, so in European requirements, including the UK on a weekly basis, companies have to trawl some of the big literature databases, such as PubMed and M base, they have to trawl that information for any articles on their drugs. And any indication of side effects or other similar challenges. Parmvir: So how is this information collected and processed? Cause you've said obviously doctors, nurses, patients, they will all report certain things. Mm-hmm how do you kind of get them to a central place and cataloged and how do you decide what are actual side effects versus David: So if we think about the front end of the process, most pharma companies out there will have medical information help lines. So these are help lines that are set out there so that healthcare professionals. So that's the physicians, the, the pharmacists, the nurses and others but also consumers can contact the company for more information about the medicine and also potentially report adverse events, side effects. In parallel to that the same thing's going on with the regulators. So in the UK, for example, we have the yellow card scheme, which these days is a web portal system where anyone can go in and report side effects of medicines they're taking. In the us, you have the MedWatch scheme, which is very similar. Most companies around the world have similar things. Plus you've also got ongoing clinical trials, clinical studies, so data is coming in that way too. We've got data coming in from literature that I've mentioned. The regulators, when they receive stuff directly, they often pass that information over to the pharma company.So essentially all this information is coming towards the pharma company. It all gets directed to a pharmacovigilance department. And then we go through the process of processing that data. And so that data comes in from everywhere around the world where the drug is available for patients to take both in clinical trials and on the market.So the process basically consists of firstly translating the data, if it needs to be translated that gets captured into a safety database and there are various commercial safe databases out there. This is where companies collate all the information received on their drugs. And it goes through a process whereby data is kind of standardized it's put into standard terminology in a way that is compatible with the regulatory requirements. A narrative is constructed. So we write a story of what's happened to the patient from beginning to end. We look at various things like if the information is available to us, you know, what other medications were the patients taking? What's their medical history? What was the sequence of events? So what was the time to onset if possible, if we have that information between the patient taking the drug and them reporting the side effect, what the clinical course of the side effect was, so did the patient recover? Was any adjustment made to the the, the dosing or any treatments given? And so all that gets written up, we then decide what other information do we need to know?And then there's a feedback loop to go and ask the reporter if they'll provide additional information. Usually we ask for more information on more serious adverse events. We don't wanna overburden the reporters. Now reporters in clinical trials, so physicians involved in those, they're legally obliged to help with that process. Spontaneous reporters that we refer to, which is just where any healthcare professional or consumer contacts, the company, that's a voluntary reporting system, so we can ask them for additional information, they don't have to provide it, but we have to ask the questions anyway. So the information gets pulled together. It then goes, usually goes through a medical review, so we have kind of scientists pulling the data together. And then we have physicians reviewing the case, making sure it makes medical sense. And then depending on the seriousness of the case and other attributes, that case might have to be reported out to regulators worldwide.And a lot of the reports which are serious, have to be reported out within 15 days of what we call day zero, which is the first day anyone in the company became aware of the report. Parmvir: Mm-hmm. David: But to give you an idea, the large pharma companies are dealing with potentially tens of thousands of reports a week that are coming in on all of their products. So these are vast systems that are set up and they have to be set up to be able to meet all of the regulatory requirements in terms of timelines, for reporting. So the data's coming in, the expedited reports are going out in the format that the regulators require. We also have to pull together what we call aggregate reports. So these aggregated analyses of data over time for newer drugs, for example, those are submitted in Europe every six months. And then over time as the drug gets older, the gap between reports gets longer. And then also we're doing something, what we call signal section, which is where we are analyzing the data. And we're looking for trends in the data. Where we think we've got patterns we're starting to then look into researching those patterns a little bit more, you know, if we start to see, for example that I don't know that we are getting what appears to be a disproportionate number of nose bleeds, let's say, in a patient cohort, we would, you know, do background research on, well, you know, is there a plausible biological mechanism that we know about through the development of the drug? Was there stuff seen in the animal studies or even the human studies that might indicate that there's a, there's a root cause here.We'll look into confounding effects. Are all these patients on other drugs, which actually are likely causing that? And yeah, so kind of an appraisal is done: what's going on? Is it likely to be caused by something else? And if not, you know, we, keep on looking and those conversations then have to be shared with the regulatory authorities.And over time, what you'll see is the labeling of the product, the professional labeling which in Europe, including the UK, is the SMPC, the summary of product characteristics, which is a bit like the instruction manual for the product, which is available to healthcare professionals and the simplified version of that PIL those little leaflets you find inside of packs, those eventually get revised on an ongoing basis to accommodate the new knowledge that we are gaining on the side effect profile of the drug. So this is an ongoing process and it happens throughout the entire lifetime of the, of the drug. Parmvir: But yeah, so here's a subject that no one's talked about for a little while. COVID 19 David: mm-hmm Parmvir: [laughs] Obviously I know there's probably a collective groan from people listening right now, but it seems like a relevant subject, given the conversations around safety that people are having with regard to the vaccine. So do you know if there's been like a major uptick in these reports by individuals, of side effects from the vaccines, or do you take account of the fact that so many billions of people essentially at this point have received at least one shot of the vaccine versus how many reports you get coming in?David: Yeah. So this is one of the big challenges, and one of the things I should have said about drugs like vaccines is because they're given to such vast numbers of people, it becomes a particular challenge to differentiate between things which are being caused potentially by the vaccine and other things, which unfortunately are just bad luck of being a human being.And by that, I mean, so years ago when I was doing one of the academic courses we were being taught about the vast amounts of research that had to be done in terms of epidemiology before the HPV vaccines were released. So these vaccines were being released for use in teenage girls, and at the time it was felt that there was perhaps an insufficient understanding of the general health of that population, including things like what is the probability of a freak occurrence that a teenage girl is going to have a stroke or something like that? Things which we think of as of course, they're exceptionally rare, but they do happen.Parmvir: Mm-hmm David: and I'm talking about in untreated populations. Parmvir: Yep. David: But of course, you know, some of these patients are also on birth control and things like that, that also have other risk factors associated with them so my understanding is before the HPV vaccines were released, a huge amount of epidemiology research was done so that when the new vaccines were released, we knew that we would expect, and I'm just gonna make up a number here that, you know, one in 500,000 teenage girls would have, I don't know, some kind of fatal event which would just naturally occur, you know, even without them having the vaccine. And so that's similar for other vaccine rollouts as well. There has to be a good understanding of the background events of other things that, people will have happen to them, which have nothing to do with the medicine that you are giving.So, you know, that data is kept available and kept an eye on by the regulatory authorities and also the pharma companies. We don't have background rates for everything, so being prepared for what might come and then, you know, there perhaps isn't so much panic when the first case comes in of a patient that has one of these catastrophic events but if you start to see more than that, that's when you start to perhaps get more interested in: is this really being caused by the vaccine or the drug of interest. So, yeah, a lot of upfront work has to be done before you even put the drug out there. I mean, in terms of the COVID vaccines and the treatments, because of the high degree of public interest and scrutiny a lot of these drugs when they were first given and the vaccines were first given, so adverse events, side effects were tracked through post-authorization safety studies. So actually a lot of people, when they got their first doses, consented to have maybe a follow up call from an investigator who would ask them about various side effects that happened. So in addition to all of the natural spontaneous reporting that was coming in, there were very large cohorts of past study data coming in which is a robust way to look at these things. I know as well, there were legitimate questions about, you know, the COVID vaccines in particular were produced fairly quickly compared to the usual 10 to 15 years in development of, of a product. But you know, there are various reasons for this. So vaccines are perhaps one of the medicines where it's more possible to template out the product and therefore switch out components. But they still have a product which is similar to other products that have previously been used. But also, the COVID era in terms of vaccine development and treatment development was, in my opinion at least a completely unique event in terms of drug development so far. If you think of drug development as a kind of universe, or I'm gonna use some wonky analogies here, but let's say as galaxies, which have solar systems within them that have planets within them.So if you think of the galaxy of drug development you have all of these different stakeholders involved. You have the pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies and the service companies that support them, that's one area. You have the regulatory authorities but you have many other stakeholders.You have patients, of course they're the most important. For chronic diseases you might have patient advocacy groups. But also, you know, you guys are part of this universe as well, because you are the ones doing basic research, which is the foundation on which all, you know, all of this is, is ultimately built. So you have universities and other research organizations. You have the funding bodies that sit behind those that decide where the research money goes. And then out the other end of the process you have ethics committees that are involved in approving clinical trials. You have payers. So these are the organizations that ultimately pay for medicinal products in the UK, for example, that's the NHS. Parmvir: Yep. David: In the US, that would be insurance companies. Parmvir: Yeah. David: You have many other stakeholders. So you have obviously healthcare professionals at the end of the day, new drugs have to be woven into the fabric of medicine. And so you have to bring HCPs along with you. There are the learning bodies as well in relation to HCPs, the kind of professional bodies.So that's really at a kind of galaxy level, these are all the different solar systems. And then within them, if you look at the pharmaceutical biotechnology and service provider solar system, within those you have an incredibly complicated set of different skills departments, functions, you have the functions that are doing discovery.So these are the early days of, development where, you know, biologists and chemists are working out, you know, what are the new therapeutic targets we can look at? Then you have the clinical development division. You have the patent divisions, you have the regulatory affairs functions. You have the pharmacovigilance functions. You have the medical affairs functions, you have the medical information functions [Parmvir cackles]. There are, and I'm going to miss out many, many. You have the, the bio stats folks, you have the medical writers. And then of course you have the manufacturing, which is in itself a completely different, you know, specialized world.So yeah, you're dealing with a very complicated process with lots of things which are interlinked. But for me, if you think of all these things, like if you use layout or different compass, let's say, and I'm talking about the compass you use to check direction, not the ones you used to draw circles [Parmvir laughs] and if you scatter them all out they'll all be pointing at different directions. You know, all of these different entities have their own priorities. Because of course the industry as a whole is developing many different medicinal products for different reasons. I think when COVID came along, it was like drawing a magnet across the top of all those compasses and it got all the needles to point in the same direction.So you had governments who had a clear incentive to try and support the development of treatments. So you had governments putting up money, which was perhaps slightly unusual. They were putting money into basic research, such as the type of stuff that you guys do. They were putting money into diagnostics, which are critical for things like COVID.They were putting money into the development of vaccines and into treatments. And then of course, you know, you have the pharma companies where there was a scramble to try and develop something, to help humanity in its hour of need. You had the regulators with a lot of focus on them you know, and everyone watching their, every move and trying to ensure that you know, as many processes that often might take months, or perhaps even years were made as efficient as possible.Parmvir: Mm-hmm David: And it was a unique point in time because everyone was lined up with the same objective. So it meant, for example, that, you know, parts of the industry, which are normally a nine to five job, became a 24/7 job. Parmvir: Yeah. David: For a short period of time.And there was a huge amount of collaboration, which happened between the different stakeholder groups, you know regulatory authorities offered perhaps free scientific advice to companies that were developing this stuff. They met very regularly with companies that were in development. They gave a lot of advice as to what their expectations were when the data was received by them. They shortened some administrative pathways let's say which usually take a lot of time. They prioritized resource. So there's resource specifically waiting for this data to come in. And so, yeah, a lot of normal processes were adapted so that things could be done as efficiently as possible.And the outcome was that, you know, these drugs went through the entire process in a much more efficient way than would usually be encountered. I think another thing as well is with things like vaccines, the side effects that we anticipate to see, including the rare unusual ones ordinarily these manifest within, you know, days or weeks.It's not something that usually we anticipate things to occur years later. So there was that aspect too, but yeah, it was a, it was a unique time. Parmvir: Yeah. And actually this is a good throwback to Dr. Carina Rodriguez's podcast because she ran one of the clinical trials for the vaccine in children at USF where I work.David: Oh, fascinating. Parmvir: Yeah, so she talked about some of the things that you mentioned as well. David: I should say I was not involved sadly in any of the COVID vaccine development, but you know, it was fascinating to watch and actually to see my profession become a talking point in the news every day. Parmvir: Yes. David: It was very interesting to see all of this play out.Parmvir: Yeah. So actually, that's probably a good point to pause and ask you, what do you actually do? David: Okay. So [everyone laughs]. So as I've kind of indicated the process of pulling in adverse event data of coding it, which is the term we use for tidying up all of the data, putting it into a safety database, writing those narratives, getting the medical review, getting the important cases out the other end to the regulators, writing the reports, doing the signal section.These are very complicated processes and every company will develop them slightly differently. You know, small biotech companies, they might only have one product. It might only be approved in one or two countries. A top five pharma company will have hundreds of products authorized in many countries around the world. But all of these processes are put together in compliance with extremely strict regulations. Regulations that as I said exist in almost every country in the world and actually the regulations kind of cross over in the sense of, if you have a product that's authorized for marketing in the UK and the US, for example you know, the UK requires you to collect all the data and analyze it as does the US.They also require you to collect the data from each other's territories so companies are in the middle of the very complicated regulatory framework, which is a little bit different in each country, but fortunately is harmonized through some international bodies and international terminology. But building pharmacovigilance systems is complicated and it has to be done right. Firstly, for the obvious reason that we want to protect patients it's in no one's interest that that that patients are not protected. But also, you know, the penalties for not complying with these complex regulatory requirements are severe. And so my job really, as a, let's say senior leader within a pharmacovigilance department is to make sure that we build the right structures.And for these companies that we that we keep an eye out on all the areas, which are potential challenges and that companies are being compliant with the legislation to which we're all held. And so, so yeah, so building pharmacovigilance systems, I think is the simplest way I can describe it.Parmvir: It sounds pretty heavy and pretty complicated. David: Yeah. I mean, if you look at the larger pharma companies, if you add up all of the resource that they put into pharmacovigilance that they're legally required to put into pharmacovigilance, to service the needs of their products. A lot of things are outsourced these days, if you the count everything that comes from the outsourcing organizations as well, the big pharma companies have thousands of people like me involved in the processing and analysis of this data. So it is a big area, and that is all we do. You know, we are not involved in any other aspect of the drug. Not involved in the sales and marketing, for example, with the product, that's almost the complete opposite side of the company to us, all we do is you know, work in this very professionalized, very standardized discipline, which is pharmacovigilance. Parmvir: So David has a couple of questions. So first one should be relatively quick, which is that, is there a regulatory authority that is the gold standard? David: [David laughs] This is a very politically sensitive one.There are certainly some regulatory authorities who, particularly in some of the larger markets who are let's say more prominent. So examples would be the US FDA, the food and drug administration that is the drug regulatory authority for the United States. In the UK, we also have an extremely prominent regulator, the MHRA they're one of the oldest regulators, I believe in the world. So that's the UK medicines and healthcare products, regulatory agency. But you know, every country has its own regulator and whilst there are some who put themselves out there, perhaps as world leading regulators, there are just as many others that are doing the same important job for their countries. The European Union and European Economic Area has a slightly more complicated system because they have a coordinating regulatory authority, which is the European Medicines agency, the EMA, who many of you all have heard about in news reports, particularly during the COVID situation. But at a national level, you also have all of the national regulators who are working in tandem with the EMA. Parmvir: Okay. So this sounds quite different from, obviously it's very different from what you were doing during your PhD. David: Yes. Parmvir: He also wants to know, how did your PhD work, prepare you to do what you do now. David: If I could sum it up in one phrase, and this is a phrase which is overused, but I think in this case, it is really true: problem solving.Parmvir: Mm-hmm David: because it's interesting, you mentioned earlier that you and I we're almost engineers. Well, I went from becoming a physical engineer, at least in a lab environment to a process engineer. And, you know, I always used to think very naively when I was doing the basic research with you, I used to think, look, we are solving problems that no one knows the answer to. This must be the hardest job in the world. [Parmvir laughs] We're not solving manmade problems. Manmade problems must be so easy to solve. But no manmade problems [Parmvir laughs] are also particularly challenging. And when I say manmade problems, you know, I'm not talking about problems that someone is deliberately created, it's just, you know, logistical challenges, and just the challenges caused by working in, you know, different regulatory envionments with different sets of requirements and how to build processes that meet all of the requirements at the same time. And react to events, of course, because it might well be that you've had a product that has been ticking along nicely for a long time. And then suddenly there is a safety concern with the product. And if that safety concern is in the public domain, you will be deluged with reports in relation to that product called stimulated reporting. And you know, of course sometimes companies will be subject to class action lawsuits particularly in the US. So they might also receive large volumes of reports all in one go. All of those reports have to meet the same legal timelines, but now suddenly you've got 10,000 reports landed on your desk. Each one takes four hours to process and they're all due to the regulators in 15 days. So yeah, it is challenging working in a hyper regulated environment. Parmvir: Essentially these are problems that come about because we are humans. David: Exactly. Yeah. Parmvir: And we have to somehow live together. David: Yeah. Parmvir: So I had a couple of questions from my little sister and these might not be directly related to your work, but they are related to the fact that you work within an environment that involves clinical trials and patients and so on.And so Sukhy wants to know are side effects from drugs, usually the same for healthy people versus patients. David: This is a great question and cause me a little bit of head scratching. I think, I mean, the answer is it depends, I think by and large. Yes. But there will be some exceptions and those exceptions include things like some of the oncology treatments, because obviously there is an interaction often between the drug and the tumor, for example, so in a healthy person you can't emulate that because there is no tumor. So an example would be a phenomenon called tumorlysis syndrome which can only occur when there's a tumor to react to the particular drug. But by and large, yes, we extrapolate safety data from healthy individuals initially, which is why the earlier phases of studies are done often in healthy volunteers with some exceptions. But yeah. Then when we move on to phase two and then phase three, phase two and three are conducted in patients that have the indication of interest, I have the disease that we're trying to treat.Parmvir: So another question she had: how do you know people who are not healthy will be able to tolerate the drugs given that initially that they're tested on healthy people?David: So the first thing I would say is I'm not an expert in the design of clinical trials, but as I said, as you go through phase one which are the trials that are normally on healthy patients, you actually start out with a tiny, tiny dose. So you have an idea of dosing from your animal studies, but the data isn't always transferrable. But you take the maximum tolerable dose in animals, including in the most sensitive animals. And you then cut that by huge factor by perhaps 500 fold. Parmvir: Right. David: So you start out with a tiny amount and then you escalate up the doses to see how the patients are tolerating the drug, not the patients subject, I should say. So these are healthy volunteers usually. Parmvir: Yep. David: So that's phase one, but yeah, then of course, when you go into phase two, you're dealing with a different patient population. I don't know exactly how that's always done, but of course, you know, trials are put together by experts in the field. And they involve, you clinicians whose expertise is this particular area of medicine.Parmvir: Yeah. David: And of course it's not just the physicians at the pharmaceutical company and the biopharma company and the scientists, I should say as well. Also, this stuff is going to regulatory authorities, it's going to ethics committees, all of whom will have their own areas of expertise. So, you know, protocols are designed around the patient and to ensure the patients are not put at unnecessary risk.Parmvir: Ah, sometimes David sends me one of those questions that really makes me giggle. And this is if regulations are so important and onerous, how do I start my own biotech in the garage? David: [David laughs] Well, it's interesting, you know, companies don't necessarily have to be that big themselves to get started, but what they will need is a lot of help.Parmvir: Yeah. David: So what you'll see these days is you know, new biotechs starting up. But they rely very heavily on outsourcing. So they will partner with service providers with contract research organizations, with contract manufacturing organizations, all sorts of other parties that have the expertise that perhaps they aren't able to pull together themselves.But yeah, there are some companies out there, particularly smaller companies in earlier development that are, you know, pretty small might have 20 people in the company. Parmvir: Yeah. David: But they will need to rely on the help of many others, because going back to the kind of universe description that I gave, you know, there are so many specialized areas that you need to have covered in order to pull together everything you need, both to run a clinical trial. and also to submit a marketing authorization application. And then also keep your product compliant with all of the legal requirements that are out there.Parmvir: It's a lot.David: It is a lot, and you know this is why drug development is so costly because it needs a truly vast number of specialists involved. And, you know, quite a lot of physicians as well. And also, you know, most drugs that enter drug development don't make it all the way through the other end, so the end costs of medicinal products also have to cover the cost of the drugs that didn't make it.And plus companies only have a certain period of exclusivity before their drug becomes generic, i.e., other companies can start making it. Parmvir: So this is purely from a personal perspective, from your point of view: what do you think about the fact that obviously you have these companies who have put so much money developing these things, which were designed to treat a global pandemic. And yet we found that for example, like entire continents, like Africa still don't have a lot of people vaccinated against COVID 19, and those companies will refuse to open up the patents to allow them to be able to get people to stay healthy. David: Yeah, it's an area that really I'm not really sufficiently qualified to talk on. And I'm not just saying that, you know, through not wanting to put my foot in my mouth, but particularly with some of the vaccine technologies that were used, they were not simple medicines to manufacture. So not simple to manufacture, not simple to store, not simple to distribute. And sometimes I guess, it is perhaps a legitimate concern of a company that if other companies start making their same drug to a lower quality, that can have ramifications elsewhere. Now I'm not saying that that was the reason behind some of what you mentioned. Now there was a vaccine that was developed the UK vaccine which was specifically developed from the outset to be made available in developing world countries, let's say, and specifically to be made available at cost. And even the way that product was designed, it can be manufactured and stored at fridge temperature Parmvir: mm-hmm, which is a big deal. David: Exactly. It is a big deal, you know, those are all very important components to consider. A vaccine that could be used in those environments. But even, I remember because I vacuumed up all of the documentaries I think on television, Netflix, everywhere else about all of the challenges that were being faced. And, you know, there were even things that you just wouldn't think about, which was, you know, because the mRNA vaccines had to be stored at -80 [degrees Celsius], there wasn't enough minus 80 freezers in the developed countries, let alone figuring out how to develop and ship these to other countries with different climatic conditions.And so you even had the manufacturers of that type of equipment, having to up their game and suddenly churn out much more equipment than they previously had. So, yeah, there's no simple answer. I mean, historically there've been other challenges in the past with other types of drugs, such as the HIV medications. In the end access to those drugs was resolved through very careful dialogue between companies, regulators others. Access issues, I believe to those drugs, and again, this is just basically what I see on documentaries and other things; where are access problems these days, they're not in relation to the drug supply chain they're in relation to other things like people not wanting to come forward and receive treatment because of the stigma associated with things like that.Parmvir: So in short, do you enjoy your work? David: I do. I mean, I can honestly say that in my work every day is different. I'm very privileged in my job to support a number of different companies that are developing different products with a very wide variety of indications. And also, you know, just when you think you've seen it all worked with a wide variety of medicinal products, suddenly something completely new will come along. For example, we are now on the precipice of many commercial gene therapies coming out. Parmvir: Ooh. David: And you know, those products have some different considerations. Perhaps some of these interventions are irreversible Parmvir: mm-hmm.David: So, you know, what happens if patients do start developing something rare and unexpected. You have patients surviving a lot longer than was originally envisaged so, you know, are there other things which come about you know, as a result of the underlying disease that just no one had ever seen before. And yeah, many other types of technologies and the regulations are always having to evolve to take into account of these new therapies and the challenges associated with them.Parmvir: Well, it sounds like you will continue to live in interesting times. David: Yeah. I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon . Parmvir: Well, thank you so much for your time today, David. That was fantastic. And yeah, as I say, we kind of thought of you as soon as we started thinking about the safety surrounding things like COVID vaccines and knew that was your jam.So yes, we very much appreciate your time today. David: Okay. Thank you very much. [musical interlude]David: So I mentioned earlier that at an early point in my PhD, I switched to studying vascular endothelial cells that were harvested from pigs. So essentially these were pigs that were being slaughtered for the meat industry. And so I had to look through a phone book and identify an abattoir that I could go to and get the tissue that I needed to do my experiments so obviously this all had to start somewhere. So I put in a call to an abattoir in deepest, darkest Essex. And I gingerly made my way on the train to this place, which of course was in the middle of rural nowhere. And unfortunately the first day that I picked to go, it was snowing. Now we don't get vast amounts of snow in Southern England, but this was a decent sprinkling of snow. So I arrived in this quiet rural destination and I walked across various fields. I think I'd perhaps just got GPS on my phone, but it was very early days. And I was lost in fields of white in no time at all. So I ended up putting in a call to, the guys, to, come and pick me up, which they very kindly did. So then, you know, at that time I really didn't know what a coronary artery looked like so what I decided to do for that first trip was I just collected the fresh hearts that they were able to bring out the processing facility. So these were kind of warm pig hearts, freshly harvested from animals. I think I had three hearts or something like that. And so I had a large polystyrene box with me with some ice in it. And I think they were kind enough to give me the ice, as I put these hearts inside bags and put them in the box and then started making my way back to London. And of course, you know, this being a cold day, the heating was on, on the train, and so as I was sat on the train, in fact, I think it was when I got onto the tube, I suddenly became horrified that my polystyrene box was starting to leak water. And of course I knew, but no one else knew on the tube that within that water were bags, perhaps not secured, very tightly containing hearts and containing probably a fair amount of blood.And I suddenly started sweating that this puddle that was starting to pull around my polystyrene box on the floor of the tube would suddenly start to go pink and then red. And then before I knew it, I would be in serious trouble. So it was just one of those situations where the tube journey seemed to get longer and longer, and I was sweating more and more and then it got to the point where I felt that I couldn't wait any longer, so I kind of dashed outta the tube at the next station went up what was perhaps one of the longest escalators on the underground and managed to just get out the other side before I caused perhaps a fake terrorist incident or something like that. I was trying to think about how I would explain that I'd got three hearts in my polystyrene box and a set of scalpels bearing in mind that pig's hearts are very similar size to human hearts as well. So, yes, I managed just about to get to the lab. I clearly looked quite distressed, I suppose when I got back to the lab. So I started telling this story to my PhD supervisor, Dennis, and uh a retired professor that had come into the department, Don. And before too long, the two of them were crying with laughter at my story.So, um, so yeah, so that was my very first trip and yes, never, never forgotten.[musical outro]David: Our lab, when we first joined, it was quite old and a bit dog eared. And there was one particular chair in the office, which was, I mean, it was like a typical office swivel chair, but it had definitely seen better days and it was extremely uncomfortable. And when we had lab meetings, no one wanted to sit on this chair. And so Parmvir and I nicknamed it, Beelzebub's stool.

Sam and Caleb: Gone North
43 - Guest Camilla Stormo

Sam and Caleb: Gone North

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2022 67:25


Episode 43. A Norwegian friend, Camilla Stormo, joins us for a chat. Camilla grew up in Lørenskog and studied in Lancaster, UK as well as London. She shares some insights for studying in the UK, her experience with the culture there, and how she transitioned her degree into a career in Norway.Topics: Across the Pond, lånekassen, UCAS, The Roses Tournament, darts, Pimm's, Sam's favorite UK food chain

The Career Happiness Podcast
Episode 147 - Degree apprenticeships and if they are the future?

The Career Happiness Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2022 24:26


In this episode I talk about Degree apprenticeships and if they are the future? 3 apprenticeship Episodes that are relevant to this episode that I mentioned : Episode 114 - Careers advice as a professional in conversation with Susan Smith Episode 122 - How to build a successful career after an apprenticeship? With Kathryn Monkcom Episode 132 - How can an apprenticeship help a young person's career? The main points I spoke about in this episode were: 1. Why I wanted to highlight the future of apprenticeships and careers 2. What is a degree apprenticeship? The link I mentioned from UCAS about a degree apprenticeship - https://www.ucas.com/apprenticeships/what-you-need-know-about-apprenticeships/degree-apprenticeships-0 3. Multidisciplinary degrees - To learn more go to the link here https://www.lis.ac.uk/ 4. What has changed about apprenticeships in the last decade The links I mentioned whilst talking about this https://www.discovery-adr.com/5-ways-apprenticeships-have-changed/ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/a-short-history-of-apprenticeships-in-england-from-medieval-craft-guilds-to-the-twenty-first-century/ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/commemorating-100-years-of-apprenticeships 5. Are degree apprenticeships the future? - https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/apprenticeships-are-future-technical-education#:~:text=Creating%20an%20early%20talent%20pipeline,simply%20valuable%2C%20it's%20the%20future. - https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/sites/default/files/field/downloads/2021-07/future-degree-apprenticeships.pdf - https://www.fenews.co.uk/skills/article-multidisciplinary-engineering-firm-encourages-a-female-future-for-the-industry/ - https://youtu.be/tDnb9wWhPqE- FT video about university vs apprenticeships that you may find interesting If you have a question about this episode please email me at soma@somaghosh.com or soma@thecareerhappinessmentor.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/careerhappiness/message

Deportres
JUEVES P480

Deportres

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2022 156:18


Deportres en Comunicante MX 27 de octubre 2022 - www.deportres.com En el Deportres de hoy: Primer capítulo de la gran final donde la liga MX busca a un campeón en a batalla de las UCAS, Tuzos contra Diablos Rojos, le damos una vuelta al fútbol internacional y al impresionante dominio del Bayern Sobre el Barca y el elenco de lo que será la Europa League, en el fútbol americano, revisamos el partido de jueves por la noche y los líderes estadísticos del deporte de las tackleadas, los resultados del béisbol del pacífico y todo listo para el inicio de la serie mundial en las grandes ligas, como siempre, tu participacion, y mucho mas, ¡dale click! www.deportres.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/deportres/support

Dive into your Career
076: 10 Tips for Starting University

Dive into your Career

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2022 22:26


Are you starting university this year? (Or know someone who is?) You won't want to miss this episode! In this episode of the Dive Into Your Career podcast - I share "10 Tips for Starting University". The joke of it is, none of them actually relate to your academia / your degree because while you'll be taught in different ways and this can be worth addressing in future episodes - it is more the social element and the sense of belonging that will enhance your university experience in those early days. So, whether you are in the car on the way to uni, in your Students Union listening on your Airpods, in your room - on a treadmill... wherever you are - enjoy this episode and I hope it helps you as you embark on one of your most exciting life adventures. Got questions? As ever, we can chat further about this on any of these platforms:Follow Your Career And Future on Instagram and TikTokVia LinkedIn post about this podcast (or search for me "Gina Visram"Sign up for the mailing list E-mail me on gina@yourcareerandfuture.com with any questions you have or suggestions for future podcast topics ... and don't forget, you can leave a quick review for the podcast too. It's much appreciated! Catch you on another episode soon. PS - Randomly, the audio changes between 13 minutes - but it is still clear and easy to hear. Apologies. The episode was still worth publishing though so I did! 

Ouch: Disability Talk
'Dad had to carry me up stairs to the LGBT party'

Ouch: Disability Talk

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2022 33:15


As LGBT Pride month makes way for Disability Pride Month, UCAS exclusively reveals to Access All that disabled students are twice as likely to identify as LGBT. Connor, a trans man, and Lucy, a lesbian, talk about the positive experiences they've had of finding their communities while studying, but also the challenges they've experienced, like inaccessible venues. Emma Tracey and Martin Dougan take the show on the road to give blind tennis a go (watch out for the video on social media) to see if they're Wimbledon ready. And disabled dancer, Kate Stanforth, talks about re-imagining her ballet career after she became a wheelchair-user and getting her students to tap dance…with their hands. Produced by Beth Rose and Keiligh Baker Recorded and mixed by Dave O'Neill The editors were Damon Rose and Jonathan Aspinwall

The Turntable Teachers
Night School Ep. 64 (Guest Speaker: l.ucas)

The Turntable Teachers

Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2022 86:01


On this episode of Guest Speaker, Mike sits down with Boston, MA-based producer/artist l.ucas. Mike & l.ucas discuss a variety of topics, including the plethora of artists he has produced for and worked with and how he's helped develop certain artists' sounds, headlining his first show at The Rockwell in Somerville, the mental health themes behind his new single and music video "Bad Place", upcoming single "Isolate, his obsession with vintage lamps, and so much more. Follow l.ucas on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pronouncedlucas/?hl=en Stream "Bad Place" on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5MrHi3dvUbbEKTEMFBP2Lw?si=1c35089d26c34551 Stream "Bad Place" on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/bad-place-single/1614789625 Check out l.ucas' website: https://www.pronouncedlucas.com/ Follow our social media and blogs Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/turntableteachers/?hl=en Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@turntableteachers Blog - https://www.turntableteachers.com/blog Shop - https://www.turntableteachers.com/shop Subscribe to our streaming services Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-turntable-teachers/id1448694925 Google Play - https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Icujt6fhi2je7zzfxjkr7glcowe?t%3DThe_Turntable_Teachers%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16 Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/user-538618877 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4UJh499meoTP5wV2b2jrb0?si=EMaTjq9CR2-_zA6orKQNEQ

Writer's Routine
Scott Kershaw, author of 'The Game' - Debut writer discusses his journey to being published, writing anywhere, and how agents help

Writer's Routine

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2022 46:40


Scott Kershaw has had an interesting route to being published. Leaving school with few qualifications, he signed up as a mature student in college. Whilst there, his work was spotted by the Head of Writing at Hull University, and despite having no A Levels or even filling in a UCAS application, he was offered a place and graduated with a First Class Degree in Creative Writing.It's all led to his debut, 'The Game'. It follows five strangers from across the globe who receive a warning that their most loved person is in danger, and the only way to save them is to play... the game. We discuss how he worked on the idea with his agent, also how he's managed to write in between renovating a house, and how music changes his writing mood.PLUS, you can hear the first full chapter of 'The Game' audiobook at the end of the show.Support us at patreon.com/writersroutine@writerspodwritersroutine.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Nonlinear Library
EA - UK University Admissions Support Programme for EAs by Hannah Rowberry

The Nonlinear Library

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2022 4:05


Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: UK University Admissions Support Programme for EAs, published by Hannah Rowberry on April 24, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. A post for: Young EAs looking to apply for undergraduate courses at top UK universities (e.g. Oxford & Cambridge) EAs in contact with high school students who they may wish to refer for UK admissions support (e.g. students who have engaged with EA through outreach programmes or their local EA group) I'm offering a free programme of 1:1 admissions support for EAs applying to top UK universities in the forthcoming admissions cycle. Goals of the programme To provide young EAs with support in preparing for UK university applications, particularly to the most elite and competitive universities such as Oxford & Cambridge. Rationale: by gaining admission to the most elite and high quality universities, EAs increase their chance of having impactful academic and career opportunities in the future. To guide & mentor young EAs in degree course/major choices to best suit their interests and abilities, and to facilitate their long term academic/career goals. Rationale: by choosing the most appropriate degree course, EAs will be better placed to facilitate their future plans and optimise their future impact. The Programme - Apply Here! The programme is free of charge. Successful applicants will receive remote 1:1 support, with regular sessions to support with application preparation, including: Choosing a degree course Strategic university choices (& Oxbridge college choices) Supercurricular development Preparing the UCAS personal statement (& SAQ for Cambridge) Preparing for admissions tests and interviews If the programme is oversubscribed with eligible applicants, support may also be offered via group sessions, webinars, resources, and correspondence. The programme is being run pro bono by Hannah Rowberry, a Cambridge graduate and former Oxford Admissions & Access Officer, now working as admissions consultant. Hannah developed her interests in EA through volunteering with SHIC, developing EA resources and programmes for schools. Eligibility and selection priorities You are eligible to apply for this programme if: You are applying to UK universities for undergraduate courses in the forthcoming admissions cycle (i.e. October 15th 2022 or January 25th 2023 deadlines) If you are applying in subsequent years, but would like guidance on your current preparations for university, please get in touch. You are interested in effective altruism, and would like to pursue this further within your studies and career You have a strong academic profile and would be able to make a competitive application to top UK universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge (e.g. you have mostly 7/8/9s at GCSE, and are predicted A/As in your A levels) Priorities in selection if oversubscribed: Students with a strong commitment and interest in effective altruism, with clear intention to pursue this within their studies and careers UK universities are your main (or equal) priority compared to other options globally Students with fewer sources of support elsewhere (e.g. your school does not have much expertise in UK/Oxbridge admissions) Students from backgrounds which are underrepresented in UK universities (minority ethnic background, first generation, low income household, disabled) Note that all eligible students are encouraged to apply, the above prioritisation will only be used if oversubscribed, to prioritise the programme for students who will most benefit from support. Application process Please make an application via the Application Form. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, however spaces are limited, so early application is recommended. If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please feel free to get in touch or connect via LinkedIn.If you are...