The Physical Activity for Health (PAfH) centre was delighted to continue our series of hybrid seminars with two excellent speakers in the area of research policy in February. Professor Elaine Murtagh of the PAfH cluster spoke about development of the National Physical Activity & Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Ireland. This was an impressive body of worked delivered on a tight timeline, with considerable policy implications for physical activity across numerous cohorts.
We then welcomed Dr Charlie Foster OBE who is the Head of Population Health at VHI Healthcare, as well as a Professor in Physical Activity and Public Health at Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol & RCSI. In an entertaining and informative session, Dr Foster spoke about his journey as a policy maker, and the range of skills required to make research a research reality. The importance of “being in the room where it happened”, and cultivating networks were key takeaways of his presentation. He also emphasised the importance of identifying problems with local resonance and being solution focused, reminding the audience that policy makers do not have time to read academic research articles. This was a thoroughly engaging and thought provoking session that provided much food for thought for attendees.