Purpose and the Pandemic
The Francis Crick Institute is Europe’s largest single-site biomedical research facility. Dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease, it hosts 1500 scientists and support staff from a wide range of disciplines in a purpose-designed building in St Pancras.
2020 was a momentous year for the Crick, repurposing first as a Covid testing facility to help keep London cancer care open and safe for patients and staff, and more recently as a vaccination centre. Dr Sam Barrell CBE, who is COO of the Francis Crick Institute and leads the operational management and running of the biomedical research centre, talked about the intense cultural impact of the Crick’s response to the pandemic (which involved repurposing to be a testing, then a vaccination centre) and the importance of purpose. She shared some of the ethical challenges that the executive team faced and how they successfully managed the relationship with their board.
Watch the recording here.....
