CSaP's Science, Policy and Pandemics podcast series is produced in partnership with Cambridge Infectious Diseases and the Cambridge Immunology Network.
Dr Rob Doubleday introduces our first podcast series on Science, Policy & Pandemics, which welcomes guest speakers from the University of Cambridge and provides new insights into some of the major challenges society faces today.
Episode 17 - Preparing for Future Pandemics
17 July 2020
This week our guests - University of Cambridge Professors James Wood, Head of Department of Veterinary Medicine; Andres Floto, Professor of Respiratory Biology, Department of Medicine; and Sylvia Richardson, Director, MRC Biostatistics Unit - discuss lessons learned from Covid-19 and how to be better prepared for future pandemics.
Episode 16 - Cities & Covid-19
10 July 2020
In this week's episode, we explore how public health understandings of cities, and broader understandings of how people live in cities, are being highlighted and challenged by our current experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our guests include VK Madhavanis, Chief Executive of Wateraid India; Dr Tolullah Oniis, a Public Health Physician Scientist and urban epidemiologist, Cambridge MRC Unit’s Global Public Health Research programme; and Professor Ash Amin, Professor of Geography at Cambridge University.
Episode 15 - The Consequences of Covid-19 in India
3 July 2020
In this episode, Dr Rob Doubleday and guests explore the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on food security, the economy and health systems in India.This episode has been produced in partnership with TIGR2ESS - Transforming India's Green Revolution by Research and Empowerment for Sustainable food Supplies.
Episode 14 - Vaccines
26 June 2020
In this episode, we explore our current understanding of the immunology and of vaccines under development; challenges involved in vaccine distribution, and insights we’ve gained about innovation and knowledge exchange throughout the vaccine development process. Rob Doubleday is joined by Dr Caroline Trotter, Dr Estee Torok, and Dr Flavio Toxvaerd.
Episode 13 - Perspectives on Easing Lockdown Restrictions
19 June 2020
In the thirteenth episode of this series, our host Dr Rob Doubleday and guest host Salma Shah speak with Dr Shaun Fitzgerald and Mats Persson about the science, policy and decision-making surrounding easing lockdown restrictions.
Episode 12 - Our Current Understanding of Covid-19
12 June 2020
What have we learned about the epidemiology of Covid-19 since the onset of the UK’s lockdown? In the twelfth episode of this series, we welcome back Professor James Wood and mathematician Professor Julia Gog to provide an update on how the situation has evolved, and what they think the future of the pandemic response might look like.
Episode 11 - Building Trust Between Politicians and Scientific Advisers
5 June 2020
In this week’s episode, Dr Rob Doubleday and guest host Salma Shah explore how the relationship between scientists and policy makers works in practice. With guests Lord Alistair Darling and Professor Frank Kelly, they discuss how ministers and their scientific advisers can build relationships based on trust, and how the nature of decisions, the personalities of the people involved, and the wider political context can shape those vital relationships.
Episode 10 - The Principles and Practice of Decision Making in Government
29 May 2020
Dr Rob Doubleday and guest host Salma Shah explore the principles and practice of decision making in Government. With guests Jeremy Hunt MP and Professor Dame Sally Davies, we explore real life examples of tackling massive public health challenges and address health emergencies including Ebola, Novichock and childhood obesity.
Episode 9 - Food Insecurity During the Covid-19 Crisis
22 May 2020
This week, Dr Rob Doubleday is joined by Dr Jean Adams, NIHR Research Fellow at the Centre for Diet and Activity Research, and Dr Jag Srai, Head of the Centre for International Manufacturing, Institute for Manufacturing for a discussion about food security and supply chains during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Episode 8: Innovative Technology in the Context of Covid-19
15 May 2020
This week, our host Dr Rob Doubleday is joined by Professor of Communication Systems Jon Crowcroft, and epidemiologist Dr Caroline Trotter, for a discussion on the role of technology in the Covid-19 pandemic. From trustworthy digital systems to digital identity and immunity pass-porting, they explore some of the new opportunities and challenges for innovative technology in the context of Covid-19.
Episode 7 - The Economic Implications of Covid-19
8 May 2020
This week, our host Dr Rob Doubleday is joined by Dr Meredith Crowley, Reader in International Economics, University of Cambridge and Dr Christopher Rauh, Lecturer in Economics, University of Cambridge. They explore the implications of the Covid-19 shock for international trade and labour market inequalities, with a focus on the UK context.
Episode 6 - How has the pandemic impacted children and adolescents?
1 May 2020
This week, our host Dr Rob Doubleday sits down with Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Professor of Psychology and Paul Ramchandani, LEGO Professor of Play in Education, to discuss how the pandemic is impacting on the learning, wellbeing and mental health of children and adolescents.
Episode 5 - Insights from Behavioural Sciences
24 April 2020
Cambridge academics, Dr Simone Schnall and Dr Sander van der Linden discuss the psychological aspects of the coronavirus pandemic including isolation, why people spread misinformation, and coping with uncertainty.
Episode 4 - Applying Statistical Methods in Modelling Covid-19
17 April 2020
In this week's episode, Daniela De Angelis, Professor of Statistical Science for Health at the University of Cambridge, discusses applying statistical methods to epidemiology, disease transmission, and how we're using models to understand the burden on the NHS posed by Covid-19.
Episode 3 - Diagnostic Testing
9 April 200
This week, University of Cambridge's Professor Stephen Baker and Dr Caroline Trotter talk about epidemiology and diagnostic testing for Covid-19, including asymptomatic cases, the macro picture of the disease based on epidemiological models, and the challenges low and middle income countries - and places facing humanitarian crises - may face in their Covid-19 responses.
Episode 2 - Communicating Evidence and Uncertainty
3 April 2020
What do we know about public trust in expert knowledge when the stakes are high and there is considerable uncertainty? This week, Dr Rob Doubleday talks to Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter and Dr Alexandra Freeman of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication.
Episode 1 - An Overview of Infectious Disease Modelling & Covid-19
27 March 2020
In this first episode of our new podcast series, Rob Doubleday, talks to infectious disease epidemiologist Professor James Wood, and mathematician Professor Julia Gog, to bring you an overview of infectious disease modelling and to answer some questions about the Covid-19 pandemic.