March Talk: Vaccinology in the time of Covid-19

 --------------------------------------------

Date & Time: Wednesday, March 10th, video Conferencing  Starting at 7 pm. 

Speakers: Dr. Simon Dobson, Medical Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection, Prevention and Control, Sidra Medicine

Venue: Video conference via Zoom

Registrations: Zoom Link to register for the talk: Register Here
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the meeting.

Synopsis of talks 

During this talk we will cover vaccines in general and Covid-19 vaccines in particular, with a Q&A session at the end for audience participation. In more detail, vaccinology is the science of vaccines, covering everything from discovery, manufacturing, clinical trials to prove efficacy and safety, licensing by regulatory authorities, mathematical models of infection patterns supporting use, through to vaccine program roll out and the proving of effectiveness and safety across whole populations. This complex and carefully coordinated process has a history of both success and failure. The use of Covid-19 vaccines to bring the pandemic under control can be understood in this historical context. No matter the science, Covid-19 vaccines will not work unless they reach the arms of people. Fair and equitable distribution is paramount. Vaccine hesitancy and refusal also have a long history requiring a sensitive approach to overcome.

Speaker Bio 

Dr. Simon Dobson is Medical Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection, Prevention and Control at Sidra Medicine. He was Head of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Infection Prevention and Control at BC’s Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. He trained in Pediatrics in the United Kingdom and in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA. He was Clinical Lecturer in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University before being appointed to BC Children’s Hospital. He worked at the Vaccine Evaluation Center, University of British Columbia as a Principal Investigator conducting many vaccine clinical trials, both grant and industry funded. He has served on the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization. His current research interests are clinical vaccine trials, especially in the pre-teen and adolescent age group, and vaccine adverse events.