Former Australian PM Julia Gillard at Imperial

Julia Gillard, Chair of the Wellcome Trust and former Prime Minister of Australia, delivered the Institute of Global Health Innovation’s Special Lecture in the Sir Alexander Fleming Building on Thursday 28th November. She examined the outlook for science and politics, tackling the implications for global cooperation on pivotal issues such as climate change and infectious diseases.

Gillard reflected on the importance of science in the near future, stressing the need to prioritise it in the face of rising misinformation, fear–mongering, and lack of public trust in scientific information.

“What happens these years will be pivotal for what happens for the rest of this century and time beyond,” Gillard said at the beginning of her talk, later focusing on the human capacity for research and discoveries, particularly in relation to the climate crisis, rise of antimicrobial resistance, and inequality in the health sector.

Gillard also spoke of the importance of global cooperation, engaging the audience through a Q&A session and eliciting laughter with humorous anecdotes.

“Right now, it is easy to feel despair, but I genuinely believe there is cause for hope,” Gillard said. “Science gives us hope. Innovation gives us hope.”