Last week PhD student Rachael Troughton presented some of her work at an exciting external event at the Facebook headquarters in London

Rachael's talk, titled “Evidence-Based Policy vs. Policy-Based Evidence in Healthcare”, described how a field’s evidence base can become dominated by policy-driven data on a specific problem, and how to overcome this, using the example of hip and knee replacement infection rates in the field of surgical site infections. The talk was well-received and generated discussion on the pros and cons of mandatory reporting and difficulties in policymaking among a varied audience from industry, research, NGOs, and the civil service.

Databeers London is a free social event for people who are interested in data and includes free beer! Held in various locations around London, the events usually take the same format starting with drinking/networking time followed by a series of entertaining and accessible 7-minute talks on data stories, with a break for more beer and then more drinking/networking afterwards. The most recent event also featured talks on testing new media platforms, mapping novelty in science, the use of psychedelics in treatment of depression, and the discovery of Viagra, which were all extremely interesting and were enjoyed by all HPRU members who attended.

To stay up to date on Databeers events, follow @databeersldn on Twitter.