I am honoured to be named the recipient of the Sir Paul Curran award for 2021. Though a sceptic, or perhaps a contrarian, by nature, I have always held onto the far more innocent aspiration that began my career in the first place—that the work that I do in the history and contemporary of healthcare might somehow make positive change in the world. The Conversation has given me the chance to do this, or at least try, by offering a space for telling stories about medicine’s history that I hope may shed new light on the world of health and healthcare around us now. I count this award as one of the greatest highlights of my career thus far, and I look forward to many more years of writing for The Conversation.
Dr Caitjan Gainty
26 May 2022
Dr Caitjan Gainty awarded Professor Sir Paul Curran Award
Senior Lecturer in the History of Science, Technology & Medicine wins award for contributions to flagship academic comment and news site, The Conversation.
King's Department of History academic, Dr Caitjan Ganty, has been awarded the Professor Sir Paul Curran Award 2021 by The Conversation UK.
The award, which was delivered at an in-person ceremony on 19 May at City University, London, is given to an academic for their communication and journalistic excellence.
Dr Gainty's award came from articles such as, the weird history of resuscitation, how snake oil got a bad name, vaccine hesitancy and why vaccines alone aren’t enough to eradicate a virus among others.
Since The Conversation UK launched in May 2013, they have collaborated with thousands of academics to ensure expertise can be enjoyed and understood by as broad a readership as possible.
Once a year, The Conversation also celebrates a special author who has taken this mission to exceptional heights through The Professor Sir Paul Curran Award for excellence in academic communication and is named after the patron – President of City, University of London and founding Chair of The Conversation UK’s governing Board of Trustees.
I would like to congratulate Caitjan on winning this year’s award and I was particularly impressed by her topical article on vaccine hesitancy. The articles she has written, along with those by the others shortlisted, are wonderful illustrations of the unique platform and the important public insights The Conversation can provide.
Professor Sir Paul Curran, talking to The Conversation
You can read Dr Ganty's contributions to The Conversation here.
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Senior Lecturer in the History of Science, Technology & Medicine