about SAS

Sense about Science is an independent charity that promotes the public interest in sound science and evidence. Founded in 2002, Sense about Science works with decision-makers, world-leading researchers and community groups to raise the standard of evidence in public life. It focuses on socially or scientifically difficult issues where evidence is neglected, conflicting or misunderstood.

• We engage and mobilise people to pursue high standards of evidence in public life.

• We challenge organisations and politicians to be transparent about the evidence they use and provide a clear chain of reasoning.

• We work with researchers to equip the public, policymakers and media with good questions and insights into evidence, particularly on difficult issues.

Tracey Brown OBE, Director

Tracey Brown has been the director of Sense about Science since 2002. Under her leadership, the charity has turned the case for sound science and evidence into popular campaigns to urge scientific thinking among the public and the people who answer to them. It has launched important initiatives to expand and protect honest discussions of evidence, including AllTrials, a global campaign for the reporting of all clinical trial outcomes; and the Ask for Evidence campaign, which engages the public in requesting evidence for claims. It has challenged opinions and changed the behaviour of governments, media and corporations in the use of scientific evidence. Tracey leads Sense about Science’s work on the transparency of evidence used by governments in policy, to ensure that the public has access to the same evidence and reasoning as decision makers. This has included drafting the Principles for the Treatment of Independent Scientific Advice, which were adopted into the UK Ministerial Code in 2010, the creation of a public interest defence to libel in the Defamation Act 2013 and the Evidence Transparency Framework, used to audit UK government in 2016 and 2017 and adopted by government audit agencies around the world. In 2010, the Times named Tracey as one of the ten most influential figures in science policy in Britain and in 2014 she was recognised by the Science Council for her work on evidence-based policy making. In June 2017 Tracey was made an OBE, for services to science.

Nita Pillai, Director of Programmes and operations

Nita has over 10 years experience working for a range of non-profit organisations working across policy and research. Nita was previously at the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) where she oversaw their portfolio of projects focused around training and upskilling anaesthesia providers in low and middle income countries. Prior to that, at the Fairtrade Foundation, Nita led the policy and research team before developing the organisation’s work on the impact assessment and evaluation of Fairtrade projects. She has extensive experience of working on complex global projects and programmes and working with, and coordinating diverse teams. Nita has also worked at Consumers International, the Overseas Development Institute and ActionAid. Nita also has a PhD in Microbiology and a Masters in Public Health Nutrition from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.