Event Detail

It might always not seem like it, but for most of humanity, now is the best time ever to be alive. Life expectancy across the world has risen steadily, and there is the promise of more to come. Much of this is down to advances in science - the results of continual breakthroughs in understanding, research and treatment. And it's fair to say that the breakthroughs are not going to stop: there are whole worlds of illnesses and treatments to conquer. But are we going about this in the best way?

Our speaker today, Emmy award-winning TV journalist and war reporter, Charles Sabine, will address how the world of scientific research is a world of wonder as well as a very human world - one where we benefit, and all have a contribution to make. This is a mighty theme, with awesome potential and a true eye opener into the world of the future. Sabine will also speak to the importance of appreciating those who work to bring treatments or care to those who are sick; In a world of total darkness, the very faintest glimmer of light emboldens the human spirit to go on. He will also talk on how the future of healthcare and research must involve greater collaboration across continents, between all key protagonists: researchers, governments, pharmaceutical companies, and patients and their families. Lastly, he will explain why every aspect of research, however far it may seem to be removed from the patient, is part of a greater good of aspiring to care for the infirm; what Darwin called 'the noblest part of our nature'.

About the Speaker

Born at British Army Battalion HQ, in West Germany and educated in the UK - worked for US network NBC news for 26 years. That career took him, via twelve wars, six revolutions, and four earthquakes, to cover most of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia's major news events since the early 1980s. There, he learnt first-hand the extraordinary limits that the human spirit is capable of reaching, in the face of tragedy inflicted by both nature and mankind. In 2008, he became a pioneering spokesman for freedom of scientific research, and sufferers of degenerative brain illnesses - in particular, Huntington’s disease, which has ravaged his family. That role has led to Sabine speaking at prestigious venues across the world, among them: the European and British parliaments; the Royal Institution in London and the World Congress on Freedom of Scientific Research.