vaccinations
Should we trust scientists?
We’re living in extraordinary times, where graphs and statistics are splashed across newspaper front pages, and misinformation is rife. How do we know which sources of information are reliable? How do scientific researchers go from having an idea to publishing their findings, and advising on policy? In this week’s episode of the ‘Big Questions...

Nuffield Department of Medicine Public Engagement lectures
Scientists at the Nuffield Department of Medicine discuss their research and answer questions in a series of fascinating and accessible podcasts. Find out more about human epidemics, language impairments and drug discovery by clicking the link below:

How tricky is it to make a COVID-19 tracing app?
As we search for a way out of the global coronavirus crisis, there’s been plenty of discussion surrounding a potential COVID-19 tracing app. Many of us carry a mobile phone with us wherever we go, so it seems logical to use this pre-existing infrastructure in the transition towards a ‘new normal’. But how tricky is it to make such an app? What’...

Alberto Giubilini
I am a philosopher at the University of Oxford, based at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. I studied in Italy, at the University of Milan, and I worked for a few years in Australia before coming back to this side of the world. I work mostly in bioethics, which is why most philosophers would not consider me one of them. But I do...
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...

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...

Weatherall Annual Lectures about molecular genetics, haematology, pathology and clinical medicine.
Access the back catalogue of the annual Weatherall lecture series, named in honour of Sir David Weatherall, Physician and Medical researcher focussing on molecular genetics, haematology, pathology and clinical medicine. Past topics have included the work on developing vaccines for malaria, ebola and HIV. Click the link below:

Learn about Malaria research at Oxford
Learn about malaria research at the Nuffield Department of Medicine with podcasts from the researchers themselves. Find out how researchers aim to improve treatment of what is the major contributer to child mortality in many parts of the world - through improved diagnosis, vaccines and treatments. Click the link below:

What does the 'R Rate' really mean?
We're all pretty used to hearing lots of pandemic-related terminology by now. I mean, last year, who knew what ‘social distancing’ meant? Not me! But it can be difficult to get to grips with what exactly all these new terms mean. For instance, what does the ‘R Rate’ really mean? We asked Emmanuelle Dankwa, a statistical epidemiologist from the...
