Bella Starling is a Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellow and Co-Director of Public Programmes at Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Her career has spanned neuroscience, stem cell and genetic research, science writing, biomedical ethics, public engagement, patient involvement and science policy, both as a practitioner and strategic adviser. She is passionate about inclusion in, and democratisation of, research; her Fellowship will explore how public engagement with research can act as a catalyst for social change.