BU Research Blog

Last week for the first time in over a year I received a request for a mass media interview in the UK on our research.  On Easter Monday (1 April) I received an email to appear on Sky TV that very evening to speak about migrant workers and kidney health.  this seemed to fit in very nicely with our recently completed study on kidney health funded by the charity The Colt Foundation, and our on-going Ensure-Nepal project funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Office.

After a lot of hassle and finally speaking to the TV research assistant over the phone it turned out Sky TV really wanted an expert to talk about poor people in South Asia selling kidney, despite what they had put in the email invitation on their interest in kidney health of migrant worker.  In the end it felt like a few hours wasted on my Bank Holiday Monday.

Then to my surprise I received a call on Wednesday from BBC Radio Scotland to speak about what babies can hear in the womb and the importance of singing lullabies. Unfortunately, I had to put that request down as this is really not my area of expertise as Professor of Reproductive Health.

Requests to appear on the media to speak about once research seem to be like buses.  As the old saying goes, you wait ages for a bus and then two (or more) come along at once.  And in this case, NOT only did two turn up, but they were wrong buses anyway!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Women’s Health (CMWH)