Dolly Theis is not your usual public health policy academic. She stood as a Conservative Party candidate in the 2017 general election, winning 10,000 votes in Vauxhall. As a One-Nation Tory, Dolly has also campaigned on environmental and food issues. She has also been involved with initiatives like 50:50 Parliament (for gender balance in Westminster) and the veteran's charity Forward Assist.

She is undertaking a PhD at Cambridge University’s MRC Epidemiology Unit, researching how policy makers use evidence and the processes that influence change in public health.

In this conversation, Zack and Dolly find points of agreement on health and obesity policy despite coming from different political perspectives, and discuss the grit and thought needed to refine your political beliefs early in life, especially in response to criticism. They also explore the different levers government has to improve our health, why a different approach to policymaking would be advantageous, and how to create a world where research and policy are fully integrated with each other.

// Links

Dolly's Twitter - @Dollytheis

Dolly's Book recommedations - Health is Made at Home by Nigel Crisp, On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

// About the host

Zack Hassan is a junior doctor based in Edinburgh and a Healthcare Leadership Academy Scholar. His podcast hosting combines his experience of debating at the Cambridge Union with insights from the NHS frontline.

Socials

–> Twitter - @MontereyZack

-> LinkedIn

-> Weekly Email, "Thinking Allowed"

-> YouTube Channel

// Music - Overriding Concern by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4187-overriding-concern

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

// Our Supporters

The Healthcare Leadership Academy has a mission to inspire the next generation of healthcare leaders. They have lots of opportunities on their website for a variety of health professionals, including through HLA Listen, their podcasting channel.

Health Education England North East and Health Education England South West support the podcast by sponsoring HLA Listen.

Medics.Academy is an online platform which provides technology enhanced learning solutions for organisations and individuals.

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