Join Amy and Karl as they reflect on the LSHTM Viral season 3. They discuss how far have we come with vaccinations worldwide and key takeaways from the expert discussions throughout the season. Thank you to all the experts who appeared on the podcast and the dedicated LSHTM Viral listeners that helped LSHTM Viral win a Gold CASE Award for Digital Communications (Frequent Podcast Category). Goodbye for now!

In this episode of LSHTM Viral, Karl Byrne speaks with Beate Kampmann, Professor of Paediatric Infection & Immunity and Director of the Vaccine Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. They delve into the future of vaccines, our perception of risk and how vaccination programmes are going to be monitored in the future. Beate answers burning audience questions including, “Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for pregnant women?”.

The explosive COVID-19 outbreak in India has shone a striking light on one of the biggest moral issues of our time - vaccine equity. Subsequent halting of vaccine exports is severely affecting Africa and developing countries, and although 1.9 billion doses have been administered globally, many developing countries are yet to receive a single dose. In this episode we are joined by two global health leaders, Professor Peter Piot and Dr. Ayoade Alakija, who discuss vaccine nationalism, COVID-19...

How do countries get access to COVID-19 vaccines in the first place? In this episode, Prof Daniel Bausch of LSHTM shares his thoughts on the global vaccine purchasing and distribution systems. An expert in the control of emerging viruses, Dan also discusses with host Naomi Stewart what the focus on COVID-19 means for other vaccination programmes and trials, how the pandemic may end, and how prepared we will be for future epidemics and pandemics. If you would like to get in contact with the...

This week, Karl Byrne talks about the latest vaccination figures as well as other breaking Covid-19 news, including an exciting citizen science project where over the last year gamers playing EVE Online- a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, have carried out real world research that would have taken scientists over 330 years to complete. In our main feature, Karl tells the incredible story of how the Pfizer-BioNTech is manufactured. The journey begins with a small, frozen tube of...

Who are the experts and groups around the world approving and regulating the new COVID-19 vaccines? And what do they need to consider amidst the urgency of vaccinating the world? In this episode during World Immunization Week, Naomi Stewart speaks to Prof Annelies Wilder-Smith from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Prof Smith sits on WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, and walks us through the decisions involved in approving different vaccines - and...

In this episode we explore the crucial stages of clinical trials and testing vaccines. How do clinical trials account for different demographics? How do we know vaccines are safe for everyone? We are joined by Dr Ed Parker, Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and member of the Vaccine Centre. Ed walks us through the purpose of a clinical trial and its roots in ancient history, and provides insight behind LSHTM’s vaccine tracker. Link to LSHTM short course...

Welcome to this episode of LSHTM Viral! Vaccines have arguably made the greatest contribution to global health of any human intervention apart from the introduction of clean water and sanitation. With new vaccines being developed at an incredible rate to tackle the current pandemic, we take a look at how vaccines work and what goes into each shot. Karl is joined by Helen Fletcher, Professor of Immunology at LSHTM, to take a look at what goes into a vaccine, how you design one and how the...

How did vaccines come to be and how have they changed over time? In today's episode, Naomi Stewart speaks to historian Dr Gareth Millward from the University of Warwick, on the history of vaccines and how vaccination programmes have evolved in the 20th century. Professor Liam Smeeth from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine then walks us through the vaccine landscape at the turn of the 21st century, and public perceptions and attitudes towards vaccination in a COVID-19 world.

Welcome back to a new season of LSHTM Viral, where we will be taking a deep-dive into vaccines and speak to experts working real-time on COVID-19. LSHTM modeller Roz Eggo reacts to the UK’s roadmap announcement on 22 February for easing lockdown restrictions, explaining the science behind the government's decision and how vaccination will forge a way out of the pandemic. John Edmunds, a UK government science advisor and professor of infectious disease at LSHTM discussed how new, potentially...

Launching February 23rd 2021 Vaccines are widely regarded as one of the greatest achievements of modern civilization, but how vaccines work, How do you create a vaccine? And perhaps most importantly, how do you produce enough to vaccinate the entire world? Join Karl Byrne, Amy Thomas and Naomi Stewart every fortnight as they explore the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic and take a deep dive into vaccines and vaccinations.  They will be talking about the latest pandemic news,...

How exactly did planetary health come to be, and where is it headed? In this season finale, we speak to two pioneers of the field - Prof Andy Haines of LSHTM and Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet. They discuss the urgency of embedding planetary health into the policy agenda, the benefits of increased public engagement with science during COVID-19, and how to address the inequalities that could hamper our efforts.

Welcome to a special episode of LSHTM viral! The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with mass national roll out following as early as the next couple of weeks.  Karl is joined in this episode by Dr Pauline Paterson, Dr Sadie Bell and Professor Liam Smeeth, as they take a look at the factors that affect people's confidence and hesitance around vaccines, how the recent news might affect peoples perceptions of vaccines, and...

We hear a lot about reducing air pollution, but why do we need to? Join Amy, Naomi and Karl exploring the ins and outs of air pollution including, how the particles affect the human body, and where they come from. We turn to new research that uses machine learning, satellite data and on-the-ground monitors to build a highly detailed pollution map of Great Britain, revealing exciting avenues for the future of air pollution and health research. Contributions from LSHTM's Prof Paul Wilkinson and...

Will climate change make it too hot for humans to live? In today's planetary health episode of LSHTM Viral, we explore the deathly impacts of excess heat driven by global warming. Shakoor Hajat explains what actually happens to our body during heat stress and how that's causing increases in mortality and morbidity worldwide, and Ana Bonell shares a case study from her PhD research on how hot temperatures are affecting pregnant farmers - and their foetuses - in West Africa. Both researchers...

The links between the environment and infectious diseases are extremely complicated with many factors to consider. With a novel virus like COVID-19, there are still many unknowns. In this episode, we ask expert ecologist, Dr Kris Murray, about the emergence of COVID-19 from bats in the Wuhan food market and how this relates to environmental change. Dr Rachel Lowe enlightens us with the latest evidence on environmental influences on other diseases, and what this could tell us about COVID-19...

From Africa’s meningitis belt to the link between malaria and rice cultivation, and from mosquitoes in the Mekong Delta to mangoes in Mexico, the links between environmental change and infectious diseases are complex and, at times, surprising. Join Karl Byrne, Amy Thomas and guests as they delve into this fascinating topic. Karl and Amy chat about the US Presidential election and how it could impact America’s efforts towards curbing climate change going forward. Karl is also joined by...

What role does the private sector play in achieving sustainable yet nutritious food systems? In today's episode, Naomi Stewart explores the relationship between the private sector and climate change when it comes to the production of food, from small scale farmers to the mass industrialisation of plant-based alternatives. Our first guest is Francesca Harris, a PhD student at LSHTM who discusses the impacts of farming on water resources in India, and the ways that academia should or could...

Healthy and sustainable diets are essential for planetary health. Poor diets are a leading cause of ill health and death globally, and the food system is responsible for between 20% and 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. On-going environmental changes are also having a direct impact on food production, and without substantial efforts to adapt to the new environmental conditions, the food system will struggle to deliver healthy and sustainable diets for all. In this episode, Karl Byrne...

Welcome to LSHTM Viral Season 2, which deep dives into planetary health with researchers from the newly formed Centre on Climate Change & Planetary Health at LSHTM, and other experts. In this episode we introduce the podcast team, Naomi Stewart, Karl Byrne and Amy Thomas. Sir Andy Haines, former director of LSHTM, also joins us to explain how the term planetary health came about, and why he became interested in this area.

In this bonus episode, we speak to Prof Heidi Larson, Director of the 'Vaccine Confidence Project'. Heidi and her team have just published a 5 year study looking at public confidence in vaccines worldwide, across 149 countries. She discusses increases and declines in confidence, and what can be done to understand these different views in order to increase confidence and optimise vaccine uptake, which will be crucial with the hopeful arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In our final episode of LSHTM Viral's first season, we dive into the history of pandemics and public health in the last few centuries, from the bubonic plague to AIDS and H1N1. Researchers from the Centre for History in Public Health explore how COVID-19 fits into this history, and how the past has shaped how we are responding to the crisis now.

For World Mosquito Day 2020, we explore the impact of COVID-19 on malaria control and prevention. A recent report from WHO says the continued disruption to malaria prevention could revert mortality to levels seen two decades ago. In this episode we speak to Prof of Epidemiology and Global Health, Sian Clarke, who is Co-Director of the Malaria Centre at LSHTM and Dr Corine Ngufor, Assistant Prof of Medical Entomology, who explains how we can adapt current malaria campaigns in West Africa while...

COVID-19 cases are starting to rise across Africa. Researchers at The MRC Unit The Gambia, LSHTM, have developed a COVID-19 rumour tracking app to combat rumours and misinformation about COVID-19 circulating amongst the populations in The Gambia and neighbouring Senegal. Social Scientific Lead Dr Melisa Martinez-Alvarez, and Social Scientific Officer Lamin Leigh explain why the tracking app is needed and how it works. Link to the tracker: https://apps.mrc.gm/informationtracker