Hidden World of Cancer Cartography: Doctors' Notes to Global Health Maps

From Doctors' Notes to Global Cancer Maps

How are global cancer maps made? Join us at Science Gallery London for a hands-on journey into the hidden world of cancer cartography—from scribbled doctors' notes in local clinics to sweeping global health maps.

In this workshop led by experts from the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer and the African Cancer Registry Network, we invite you to step into the role of researcher and discover how clinical case files, global surveillance systems and digital tools come together to shape our understanding of cancer across continents.

Together, we'll ask: How do locally situated case files become legible to international institutions? What is preserved, transformed, and lost in the process? And what consequences follow from mapping disease in particular ways?

This event is part of the Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 6 - 15 November 2025. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy. For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org.