COVID-19 Webinar Speakers
Event chair – Zoe Kleinman, BBC News
Zoe Kleinman is a leading technology journalist and presenter with a passion for all things tech and 20 years of broadcasting experience. From gadgets and games to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, she makes tech news accessible to a mainstream audience of millions across national and international BBC Radio, TV and online outlets including Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC World TV and the UK’s most watched news shows. Zoe’s wider journalistic skills are hugely respected across the BBC and in 2020 was asked to work as a senior journalist on the BBC News team covering the Covid-19 pandemic. She is an Alumni of University of Southampton and has worked with University colleagues in her reporting on the pandemic.
Speaker – Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health
Dr Michael Head has a background in global health research and infectious disease epidemiology. He has ongoing COVID-19 research, supporting the pandemic response in Ghana and Togo in West Africa, and is experienced at public communications with the media and outreach and public engagement into schools and the community. Here, Michael will speak about his analyses of $105 billion of funding for infectious disease research – how does the global health world spend its research money, and how can we do it better? And there’s been a vast amount of funding awards for COVID-19 research, what does the research landscape look like there?
Speaker – Dr Nisreen Alwan, Associate Professor in Public Health
Dr Nisreen Alwan trained in clinical medicine and public health. She obtained a PhD in nutritional epidemiology in the area of maternal and child health. She has a particular interest in the wider social, economic, environmental and cultural determinants of health in women and children. Here, Nisreen will talk about her research and advocacy around pandemic inequalities, and the emergence of ‘long COVID’ and why it is so important.
Speaker – Ms Jessica Floyd, Senior Research Assistant in Statistical Analysis and Disease Modelling
Ms Floyd was previously at Imperial College London but is now part of the University of Southampton WorldPop group, focusing on geography and population movements. Her research interests include human and livestock movement patterns and risks of infection in Kenya, and she has used her skills to great effect in supporting the geospatial response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, Jessica will talk about her work assessing the impact of coordinated COVID-19 exit strategies across Europe, and also the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (for example lockdowns) to contain COVID-19 in China.
Dr Ken Brackstone, Research Fellow in Psychology
Dr Brackstone was awarded his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Southampton in 2015. He currently works as a postdoctoral research fellow and data analyst at the Clinical Informatics Research Unit, Southampton. His research interests lie predominantly in the psychosocial factors that influence disease transmission, such as personality differences and people’s attitudes toward health and disease. His work attempts to understand in more depth why certain diseases are transmitted, and why some people are unwilling to protect themselves and others. In Ken’s talk, he will discuss his recent survey that explored the behaviours and attitudes toward COVID-19 in a Ghanaian population – including how the pandemic has affected their physical and mental health.
Speaker - Dr Pete Lawrence, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology
Dr Lawrence is a clinical psychologist whose research examines children’s development in the face of adversity. Here, Pete will talk about his work on COVID-19, including the Co-SPYCE study which is investigating how families are coping during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, and what parents can do to help support their pre-school children's mental health.
Speaker - Professor Paul Elkington, Professor of Respiratory Medicine
Professor Elkington leads a research group studying tuberculosis, specifically identifying how infection destroys the lungs and how this can lead to new diagnostic tests and treatments. Here, Paul will talk about his collaborations with the engineering teams at the University, to help combat the global COVID-19 pandemic. This is all part of the award-winning PeRSO study - A Personal Respirator for Healthcare Professionals Treating COVID-19. This new respirator design is aimed at use in both the UK and in the developing world, with design plans openly available for anyone to use, and the product is made of lightweight easily-available materials.
Speaker - Professor Saul Faust, Professor of Paediatric Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Professor Faust is a paediatrician and has numerous research interests around paediatric infectious disease, including for example in meningitis and sepsis. He is experienced at developing and conducting paediatric and adult vaccine trials as part of the UK academic paediatric vaccine group. Here, Saul will discuss his experiences of leading on a high-profile COVID-19 vaccine trial. University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton have been recruiting volunteers into the study for several months, covering the smaller ‘phase 1’ trials right up to the ongoing much larger ‘phase 3’ part of the study.
