London Evidence Syntheses and Research Use Seminars
The EPPI Centre and The Centre for Evaluation at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) jointly host the ‘London Evidence Syntheses and Research Use Seminars’. These seminars aim to encourage discussion and information-sharing on challenges and innovations in evidence syntheses methods.
The free of charge hybrid seminars are hosted in London but can be attended online. They take place every other month on a Wednesday between 12.30 and 13.45. They include 25-30 min presentations and plenty of time for discussion. Recordings of previous seminars: https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=3317.
If you have queries, would like to suggest a topic, or to be added to the mailing list to be notified of future sessions, contact: katy.sutcliffe@ucl.ac.uk.
October 2026 Seminar
- Title: The fight for facts: from ‘beyond belief’ to the embrace of evidence.
- Speaker: Helen Pearson, Science Journalist.
- Date and time: Wednesday 7th October 2026, 12:30 - 13:45 (GMT)
- Admission: Free, accessible online
- In-person attendance: Manson Lecture Theatre, LSHTM, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT
- Online attendance: TBC
Session details:
In an age flooded with misinformation and contested truths, the role of evidence couldn’t be more important in showing what actually works. But how did we come to use evidence — and why are some people rejecting it today?
Award-winning Nature journalist Helen Pearson will speak about her new book Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works. It tells the story of the ‘evidence revolution’ — the global movement that promotes the idea that scientific evidence should guide our decisions rather than unreliable opinions or beliefs.
Beyond Belief examines the rise of evidence-based medicine, and how the principle of using evidence to determine ‘what works’ is now transforming fields from government policy and education to policing and conservation — as well as the many obstacles the evidence movement faces today. Is there a public crisis of trust in science and evidence? And how can evidence stand out amidst the torrent of questionable claims online?
Helen Pearson is an award-winning author, science journalist and editor at Nature, and was named European Science Journalist of the Year in 2025. She is also an Honorary Professor of Practice at UCL, teaching science writing and journalism. Helen’s first book, The Life Project, was named Science Book of the Year by the Observer and was longlisted for the Orwell Prize. Her second book, Beyond Belief, was published in April and named a Financial Times best summer book 2026. Helen studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and completed a PhD in developmental genetics at the University of Edinburgh
Click here to see details and recordings of previous events