Twenty five people joined the first seminar hosted by NOVA-Lancaster Seminar Series. The seminar focussed on Global Health as a theme and attendees enjoyed presentations from Sónia Dias (NOVA, ENSP) and Professor Nancy Preston (Lancaster, FHM).

Opening the event, Professor João Amaro de Matos, Vice-rector of NOVA, commented on the success of the partnership being in a large part due to it having been initiated by academics themselves and built on their relationships and work.

Professor Preston and Professor Dias both reflected on how their research practices have had to change due to COVID-19: Respecting the increased strain their colleagues dealing with the pandemic; conducting interviews and other research online; reacting quickly to such an urgent situation; and, capturing the complex implications that COVID-19 has had on health and healthcare.

Speaking about this, Professor Preston said: “Conducting research about palliative care during the pandemic has been challenging, but has given academics an opportunity to work collaboratively and help develop health care systems to meet the needs of patients and families in a timely manner to improve end of life care.”

Those at Lancaster University can view a recording of the video here. For those outside of Lancaster, the recording is available until May 24th here.

The next seminar in this series will be 12-1pm on May 24^th, and will focus on the themes of Digital Futures and Global Health with presentations from Professor Rute Costa (NOVA, FCSH); and Professor Elena Semino (Lancaster, CASS). Please contact Joe Bourne to register an interest in attending the event.

To find out more about the NOVA-Lancaster partnership please visit the partnership webpage. To be added to the NOVA-Lancaster newsletter please contact Joe Bourne, Global Engagement Manager at Lancaster University.