Sile Lane

Sense about Science

Síle Lane is head of international campaigns and policy at Sense about Science, an independent charity that challenges the misrepresentation of evidence in public life.

Síle leads Sense about Science’s campaigns including AllTrials, a global campaign for the registration and reporting of all clinical trials and Ask for Evidence, a public campaign to help people request for themselves the evidence behind news stories, marketing claims and policies. Síle works to promote transparency in policymaking processes. She also oversees the organisation’s Brussels office, which calls for EU citizens, researchers and the European parliament to scrutinise and share evidence behind European policymaking and to show elected officials that evidence matters to the public.

Síle is passionate about science communication and spends a lot of time helping researchers, regulators, policymakers, companies and NGOs to talk about science and evidence openly, humanly and without stigma and intimidation. She founded the Dublin office of Sense about Science in 2016 and recently launched Voice of Young Science in Ireland, a unique and network of early career researchers committed to playing an active role in public discussions about research.

A sought-after chair, panellist and engaging public speaker, Síle has appeared on RTÉ and the Today programme, as well as writing for the Guardian, the BMJ and New Scientist among other publications and delivered the keynote talk at TEDx Madrid in 2016. Prior to joining Sense about Science in 2009, Síle was a post-doctoral researcher at Imperial College London working on stem cells and regenerative medicine.