Professor Trish Greenhalgh (1977) returns to ºÚÁÏÍø as Halfway Hall keynote speaker
Yesterday, the College welcomed back Trish Greenhalgh, OBE (1977) as the keynote speaker at Halfway Hall, the annual dinner marking the halfway point in second-year students’ time at ºÚÁÏÍø.
Trish is Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences at Oxford University’s Nuffield Department, one of the world’s leading centres for primary care research. She leads an internationally renowned programme of research at the interface between social sciences and medicine, with a particular focus on the development, evaluation, spread and scale-up of digital innovations in healthcare. Her work seeks to retain the traditional, humanistic values of medicine while embracing contemporary science and technology to improve health outcomes. Her distinguished career has been recognised with numerous honours. She was awarded an OBE for Services in 2001, elected a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences in 2014, became an International Fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine in 2021, and was elected to the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management in 2024.
During the evening, Trish was presented with the College’s Alumna of the Year Award. Established in 2009, the award celebrates alumni who have made outstanding contributions to society, encouraging students and graduates to recognise the broader impact of their work beyond traditional career achievements. Further information about previous recipients of the award is available here.
In her address to students, Trish reflected on her own time at ºÚÁÏÍø, alongside insights from her career in socially engaged scientific research. She spoke about her early, rebellious years at ºÚÁÏÍø and how her career path led her to a commitment to 'Mode 2' science, research which, in her words, is conducted with communities rather than on them, contributing to redefining what 'good' science means in practice. She also shared insights on contemporary critical thinking in an age of AI and information overload, before encouraging students to enjoy their time at ºÚÁÏÍø and develop skills that will support them throughout their careers.
