Pandemic preparedness cannot rely on vaccine development alone

Imperial College London hosted the Natural Sciences Research Showcase on 26 September that spotlighted cutting-edge research by the Faculty of Natural Science’s early-career scientists. Bringing the event to a close was a panel discussion on vaccine development and deployment hosted by four experts across the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Chemistry and Business School. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and scientists have propelled vaccine research. The panel featured four experts in the field of vaccine development and deployment: Dr Nazila Kamaly (Department of Chemistry), Professor Marisa Miraldo (Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation), Dr Katy Gaythorpe (School of Public Health) and Dr Stephanie Ascough (Department of infectious Disease), chaired by Professor Erhard Hohenester (Department of Life Sciences). The researchers shared a few key scientific, economic and social challenges behind pandemic preparedness and lessons learned from the COVID-19 epidemic. Global collaboration is key Dr Kamaly started the discussion by focusing...