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Healthcare
Can we diagnose heart attacks faster?
With one person admitted to hospital every 5 minutes in the UK because of a heart attack, the ability to diagnose and treat them quickly is vital. In this episode of the ‘Big Questions’ podcast, find out how Dr Tingting Zhu is using a machine learning algorithm, trained on 15,000 ECGs, to diagnose heart attacks faster, potentially eliminating...
Who should get the vaccine first?
It's a question that's on the lips of politicians, scientists and policy-makers right across the globe - who should get the COVID-19 vaccine first? Should it be the elderly and clinically vulnerable, healthcare professionals and other frontline workers, or another group entirely? We chat to Dr Alberto Giubilini, a philosopher at the Oxford...
Tess Johnson
As a DPhil candidate in Philosophy, I am based at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. During my undergraduate studies in biology and anthropology at the Australian National University, I took an amazing class in bioethics, and discovered a love for asking the big “should” questions about scientific developments—from new reproductive...
Understanding COVID-19 transmission, informing control
Tackling a previously unseen pathogen - like the one that causes COVID-19 - is like piecing together a puzzle. There are many different parameters to investigate before the pathogen can be fully understood, and before effective control measures can be put in place. So how do scientists go about solving the puzzle, and why is modelling so...
Why do diets fail?
It's a new year (and a new decade!) and many of us will be looking to turn over a new leaf when it comes to diet and lifestyle. But - as anyone who's tried one will know - diets are VERY difficult to stick to. In this episode of the Big Questions podcast, we ask Professor Heidi de Wet from the University of Oxford's Department of Physiology,...
Mohit Dalwadi
My parents are of Indian heritage. My dad was born in Uganda and arrived in the UK in 1972 as a refugee after the expulsion of South Asians from Uganda. My mum was born in India and met my dad while visiting a friend in the UK. They married and settled just outside London, where I was born and grew up.
Watch a video about Oxford research into good germs and bad germs
Invisible to the naked eye, yet a constant presence, microbes live in, on and around us. Good germs; bad germs highlights an innovative Public Engagement with Research project that is taking place at the University of Oxford. The researchers collaborate with members of the public to experiment on the microbial...
What does my family want to know about coronavirus?
Coronavirus has been hitting the headlines since late 2019, and is now at the forefront of many people’s minds. We have a lot of questions, and it can be difficult to find answers. In this episode of the Big Questions podcast, Emily is asking her family what *they* would like to know about coronavirus, and Prof Christl Donnelly (an expert in...
Min Chen
I was born in Shanghai, China. The majority of my school education took place during the infamous Cultural Revolution. There was no encouragement of academic achievement. Fortunately, the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, when I was 16, and it became normal again for teenagers to study and apply for university places.
Richard G. Compton
I chose chemistry as a career partly because, when I was a schoolboy at a state school in rural Somerset and when I was a student both at Oxford University and at Imperial College London, I had wide interests - especially in chemistry, mathematics and geology. Becoming a physical chemist has allowed me to be active in all three areas. For...
