John Bell, Andrew Pollard, Sarah Gilbert, Teresa Lambe and Catherine Green Chaired by Nick Higham

Leading members of the vaccine team that developed and tested the successful Oxford Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine discuss the challenges and success of their programme and receive the festival’s inaugural science and innovation award.

The Oxford Vaccine Group is led by Professor Sir Andrew Pollard and conducts studies of new and improved vaccines. It started work with the Jenner Institute for developing innovative vaccines in January 2020 on developing a COVID-19 vaccine. The work was led by Pollard, Professor Sir John Bell, Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, Professor Teresa Lambe, Dr Sandy Douglas, Professor Catherine Green and Professor Adrian Hill. The Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine was developed extraordinarily quickly and was one of the first to be approved for COVID-19. By summer 2021, one billion doses of the vaccine had been released, and it had become the basis for the UK vaccination programme.

After the event the team will receive the festival’s science and innovation award.

Bell is an expert in genetics and immunology and Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford. His role includes leading the development of the research strategies of the university’s Medical Sciences Division and working with external agencies including major funders, charities and industry. Pollard is professor of paediatric infection and immunity and has led the Oxford Vaccine Group for more than 20 years.

Gilbert is SAID Professor of Vaccinology and a Jenner Institute investigator. She is a specialist in development of vaccines against flu and emerging viral pathogens and set to work on a COVID-19 vaccine after reading on New Year’s Day 2020 about strange cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, China. Green heads the Nuffield Department of Medicine’s Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility. She is the Monsanto Senior Research Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford and an associate professor at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford. Gilberrt and Green are co-authors of Covid-19 & Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus. Lambe is professor of vaccinology and immunology at the University of Oxford and a Jenner Institute investigator. Her expertise is in vaccine development and immune profiling.

Discussions are chaired by journalist Nick Higham, who was the BBC’s first ever media correspondent and is a former presenter of Meet the Author on the BBC news channel.