Paul Griffiths MBE, Emeritus Professor of Virology, University College London.

In this talk I will set the scene by showing you some pictures of common viruses. I will then use the example of the Covid-19 pandemic to describe how this virus evolved and how variants were given their names. We will then turn to the vaccines that protected against the worst effects of this pandemic and consider how vaccines work. Taking a global perspective, we will then consider if eradication of viruses, as achieved already for smallpox, is feasible and justified economically. I will then end with the preparations that are being made to protect us against the inevitability of a new pandemic arising at some point in the future. After a break for refreshments, I hope you will have plenty of questions to occupy the second half of the time allotted.

Paul Griffiths MBE is Emeritus Professor of Virology at University College, London. His research concerns cytomegalovirus infection, where he helped to define the natural history and pathogenesis of this infection and used the information to design randomised controlled trials of antiviral drugs and prototype vaccines. His clinical laboratory at the Royal Free Hospital provided diagnosis of all viruses that infect humans. He served on the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation for 8 years and remains Chair of the Department of Health WHO committees on eradication of poliovirus and measles. He was the founding editor of Reviews in Medical Virology and is also Patron of the charity CMV Action.