Victoria Charlton is a Wellcome Trust funded PhD student at the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine. She holds an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College London and a BSc in Natural Sciences from the University of Bath.

Prior to joining King's, Victoria worked for several years as a science policy professional. Her roles included Head of Policy at the Academy of Medical Sciences and Specialist to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, as well as shorter periods working with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) and Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

She has worked on reports covering a wide range of topics, including public health, clinical trials, UK blood safety/Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), genetically modified crops/advanced bioengineering techniques, the UK life sciences industry, stratified medicines, real-world evidence, government horizon scanning and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

She has also contributed to numerous policy events, meetings, workshops, statements, speeches, articles and consultation responses.

Before moving into science policy, Victoria qualified as a Chartered Accountant and worked for several years for a Big Four accounting firm, providing strategic advice to a variety of clients including many from the life sciences and healthcare sectors.

Research

Thesis title: 'The influence of social and ethical values on NICE technology appraisal: an empirical ethics study'

Victoria's research explores the influence of social and ethical value judgments in health technology appraisal, as performed by the UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).