Best of CASE Europe Region Award
 

Institution: University of Oxford

Title of entry: University of Oxford: Maths + Cancer podcast

About this entry: Experts at the University of Oxford are leading the way in cancer prevention, detection and treatment.

This is an area of increasing importance to the University, and the University’s public affairs team ran a short campaign to increase awareness of Oxford’s cancer research. Part of this campaign was the Maths + Cancer podcast.

The Maths + Cancer podcast explores the extraordinary and unexpected ways mathematics is being applied to cancer research. It explores how maths and stats help with cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and helps listeners learn about the researchers making it happen.

Its host, Dr Vicky Neale, is a mathematician at the University of Oxford. This podcast series is both a personal and professional endeavour for Vicky. Since March 2021, she has been receiving treatment for a rare form of cancer, prompting her to discover more about how her colleagues in the mathematical community are contributing to cancer research – from prevention, through to diagnosis and treatment.

Throughout the 6-episode series she talks to a range of experts to find out more about the role of mathematics and statistics in cancer research, as well as to discover more about the people behind the work.

The podcast reached wide audiences, with 3,974 listens and positive feedback ranging from teachers who added the podcast to their lessons to PhD students who commented on the opportunities it flagged for them and members of the public who said they enjoyed it from the perspective of personal experience with cancer.