Sumali Bajaj

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Georgina Ferry interviews Sumali Bajaj, DPhil student (Department of Biology), 17 March 2023.

Topics discussed include (00:00:38) early interest in science, undergraduate studies in India, research projects, work at a government hospital in the biostats unit, consultancy for the Public Health Foundation of India, scholarship master's studies at Harvard University, role at Imperial College and work on HIV and Alzheimer's; (00:07:04) first awareness of COVID-19; (00:08:27) work on COVID-19 at Imperial; (00:14:23) move to Oxford to begin doctoral training programme in October 2020; (00:17:25) projects relating to COVID-19, work with Moritz Kraemer including project relating to the spread of the Alpha variant; (00:21:46) data collection on mobility and human behaviour; (00:22:44) paper relating to the spread of Delta in England; (00:25:25) modelling, associations and trends in statistics; (00:26:53) influence on policy at a national level; (00:28:00) additional PhD projects, including work on other diseases; (00:29:40) collaboration during the pandemic, importance of interdisciplinary work; (00:32:04) lessons learned through the pandemic, including sharing of ideas and knowledge; (00:33:17) focus of work for the future, including infectious diseases and neglected tropical diseases; (00:36:00) personal threat from COVID-19; (00:37:52) changes to work schedule, including remote working; (00:39:16) adopted routines during the pandemic, including cycling; (00:42:52) changes to future work as a result of the pandemic; (00:45:30) future postdoctoral positions and next stage in career, collaborative work with Moritz Kraemer, Cristl Donnelly and José Lorenzo.

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Collecting COVID: Oral Histories

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Department: Bodleian Libraries

Date Added: 01/08/2023

Duration: 00:46:29

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Dr Andrew Brent

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Collecting COVID: Oral Histories

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Georgina Ferry interviews Andrew Brent, Consultant in Infectious Diseases & General Internal Medicine and Deputy Chief Medical Officer (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), 17 March 2023.

Topics discussed include (00:00:18) early interest in medicine, degree studies at Cambridge, clinical studies at Oxford, interest in working in the developing world and tropics, Fellowship working at the Wellcome Trust Oxford Centre with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, return to Oxford and clinical roles in infectious diseases and general medicine; (00:04:48) infectious diseases in a western context; (00:08:50) protocols for treating patients coming from endemic areas, PPE for healthcare workers; (00:10:32) first awareness of COVID-19, including management of suspected cases, communications with Public Health England, collaboration with the ambulance service and academic colleagues, departmental planning; (00:21:14) testing, including drive-by swab tests at the John Radcliffe Hospital, set-up of separate testing hub at the Churchill Hospital, testing in the community; (00:30:21) national teleconferences led by Keith Willett (Director for Acute Care to NHS England and is the Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery at the University of Oxford); (00:31:15) first case of COVID-19, preparation for the first peak of cases in March 2020, including teleconferences with doctors in Wuhan and Lombardy, COVID incident management group (set up by Katie Jeffery, Director of Infection Prevention and Control); (00:34:07) systems set up to detect transmission within the hospital, including COVID steering group; (00:37:08) reorganisation of the hospital, impact on elective work and staff; (00:40:06) work in infectious diseases, intensive care ward rounds, reorganisation of intensive care units into COVID and non-COVID, mortality in ICU; (00:51:27) autumn peak, including impact of the RECOVERY trial and treatment of patients with steroids, COVID Care at Home service; (00:57:10) long COVID clinic; (00:58:31) rollout of the vaccination programme and clinical presentation of patients thereafter, including those who had not been vaccinated; (01:01:52) testing of healthcare workers, including testing regime set up by Derrick Crook; (01:04:22) service pressures and impact of the pandemic on the healthcare workforce; (01:07:16) development of role and move into leadership positions in addition to clinical work; (01:10:22) quality improvement; (01:12:50) lessons from the pandemic, including role of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals.

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Collecting COVID: Oral Histories

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Andrew Brent

Georgina Ferry

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medical sciences

communicable diseases

Department: Bodleian Libraries

Date Added: 01/08/2023

Duration: 01:18:31

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The Moving Brain with Dr. Andrew Peters

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CortexCast - A Neuroscience Podcast

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We met with Dr Andrew Peters (a new PI) to discuss his career in neuroscience so far studying movement in the brain. By combining multiple modern techniques, Andy interrogates global circuits during motor learning and behaviour.

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CortexCast - A Neuroscience Podcast

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Department: Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG)

Date Added: 01/08/2023

Duration: 00:20:31

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Season 2 Trailer

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CortexCast - A Neuroscience Podcast

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The trailer for the second season of CortexCast.

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CortexCast - A Neuroscience Podcast

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Department: Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DPAG)

Date Added: 01/08/2023

Duration: 00:00:53

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Peter Gross

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Iraq 2018-2019: The Rule of Law: a perspective

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Middle East Centre

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The Rt Hon Sir Peter Gross (Formerly, Lead Judge for International Relations) shares his insight into the Judicial and Rule of Law developments in Iraq.

Abstract:

IRAQ 2018-2019: The Rule of Law: a perspective

At the invitation of the President of the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq, Chief Justice Dr Faiq Zidan, and supported by the FCDO, I visited Iraq in early 2018 and again in 2019, on each occasion to attend the Iraqi Judiciary Day. The visits embodied the success of peer-to-peer Judicial Engagement.
Short stays can only present snapshots, but these timely visits (as Iraq was emerging from its Ba’thist past under Saddam) symbolised a wider and enduring yearning for the Rule of Law, together with the good governance it underpins. For my part, it entailed a combination of both pride and humility in the honour the visits accorded to the UK Judiciary.
The visits generated mutual benefits. They affirmed the UK as the Iraqi Judiciary’s international partner of choice. On the Iraqi side, they assisted in boosting the position of the Judiciary in Iraqi society, also facilitating increased standing for the Iraqi Judiciary in the region and the integration of the Iraqi Judiciary into the international Judicial community, notably, in SIFoCC (the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts). Furthermore, the visits enhanced the focus on women in the Iraqi Judiciary, benefited the relationship between Bench and Bar in Iraq and promoted improved relations between Judges in Baghdad and Erbil.
Perspective is essential. The Judicial system in Iraq (as elsewhere) faces continued challenges in dealing with terrorism, human rights and corruption. This is a work in progress.
The visits prompt a focus on Judicial and Rule of Law developments and reforms in the region.
In a broader context, the principal need is to institutionalise arrangements for Judicial Engagement of this nature, so that they do not hinge on the individuals in post or office at the time and, on a continuing basis, harness the UK’s world-class reputation in the Rule of Law sphere.

Biography:

Practised in commercial chambers at 3 Essex Court (now Twenty Essex). Queen’s Counsel 1992. Appointed Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division 2001, Presiding Judge of the South-Eastern Circuit 2005-2008, Judge in Charge of Commercial Court 2009-2010. Appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2010. Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales 2013-2015. Lead Judge for International Relations 2018-2019. Worked extensively internationally, including in the Middle East, on international Judicial relations. On retirement from the Court of Appeal, appointed President of the Slynn Foundation in November 2019, dedicated to advancing the Rule of Law internationally. In 2020, appointed by the Lord Chancellor to chair the Independent Human Rights Act Review (IHRAR) examining whether the Human Rights Act 1998 is working effectively. Judicial Commissioner of IPCO. Sir Peter practises as an Arbitrator and is a Judge of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts. Treasurer of Gray’s Inn 2022.

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Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK (BY-NC-SA): England & Wales; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

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Department: Middle East Centre

Date Added: 27/07/2023

Duration: 00:46:20

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Joanna Streck

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July 2023 Joanna Streck

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Let's talk e-cigarettes

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Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Assistant Professor Joanna Streck from Massachusetts General Hospital, USA.

Associate Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Dr Nicola Lindson discuss the new evidence in e-cigarette research and interview Assistant Professor of Psychology, Joanna Streck, from the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US. Joanna Streck talks about her new study looking at the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of switching from combustible cigarettes to e-cigarettes in individuals in treatment for opioid use disorder. The trial name is: Switching Individuals in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Who Smoke Cigarettes to the Standardized Research E-Cigarette (SREC).
The goal of this study is to conduct a pilot randomized waitlist-controlled trial to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of substituting the National Institute for Drug Abuse standardized research e-cigarette (SREC) for combustible cigarettes in people who use medications for opioid disorder and combustible cigarettes who are not ready to quit smoking. A waitlist controlled randomised controlled trial of 40 participants will investigate the impact of SREC provision on: tobacco use behaviour; biomarkers (e.g., carbon monoxide); cigarette dependence and withdrawal; and short-term health effects and tolerability.
This podcast is a companion to the electronic cigarettes Cochrane living systematic review and shares the evidence from the monthly searches.

For more information on the study see: https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT05881304

Our literature search carried out July 1st 2023 identified two new ongoing studies. The study above and NCT0588794, Impact of E-cigarette Nicotine Concentration on Compensation.

For more information on the full Cochrane review updated in November 2022 see: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub7/full

Or our webpage: https://www.cebm.ox.ac.uk/research/electronic-cigarettes-for-smoking-cessation-cochrane-living-systematic-review-1

This podcast is supported by Cancer Research UK.

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Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK (BY-NC-SA): England & Wales; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

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Let's talk e-cigarettes

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Department: Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine

Date Added: 26/07/2023

Duration: 00:20:13

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The Pandemic People: Sir Patrick Vallance

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The Oxford Colloquy

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Sir Andrew Pollard & Sir Patrick Vallance discuss the COVID-19 pandemic. He shares insights into his medical career and vital work during the pandemic as Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government.

Sir Patrick Vallance FRS FMedSci FRCP HonFREng was UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) from April 2018 to April 2023.Previous to that role he was President of Research and Development at Glaxo Smith Kline and before that Professor of Medicine at UCLA, California.

He took on a crucial role in the UK response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this podcast episode he discusses with Andrew Pollard how he was aware of the emerging news about the virus at the end of 2019 and the steps he took to prepare the government for the potential impact.

Before discussing the pandemic, they step back to look at his medical career, his very broad experience as a clinician, as an academic and then working as a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry. This experience led to a deep understanding of the whole process that underpins drug development and the complexities around regulation.

They discuss policy decisions and policy design in his role of Chief Scientific adviser - "It isn't just the linear process from scientific evidence, it involves economics. It involves social considerations, ethical, moral, political, legal, and all of those things need to be taken into account by ministers when they make decisions".

They move on to discuss the activities around the pandemic response with Sir Patrick's key role as chief scientific advisor - from initially hearing news of an outbreak in China to the early response, the plans for lockdown to support the NHS and the strategies involved in the development of vaccines and their rollout. Finally, they discuss how to deal with stress on a personal level and the benefit of having trusted close colleagues to rely on and the need for sharing information between a network of science advisors in other countries.

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Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK (BY-NC-SA): England & Wales; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/