Co-creator of AstraZenica vaccine to speak with Milton Keynes public health boss

The woman who helped create the AstraZeneca vaccine is to speak at the Milton Keynes literary festival about her remarkable race against time to combat Covid.

Professor Catherine Green OBE is Associate Professor in Chromosome Dynamics at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, a Senior Research Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford, and Head of Oxford University’s Clinical BioManufacturing Facility.

As a specialist in manufacturing vaccines for clinical trials, she was an integral part of the Oxford Vaccine project, working closely with fellow professor Sarah Gilbert to make her vaccine design a reality that could be shipped across the world. In 2021.

She and Sarah Gilbert have written a book called Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca to describe their race against the virus.

The book shines light on exactly how the vaccine was designed and manufactured at huge scale and at rapid speed without compromising on safety. Its creators share the major milestones of the story from their own unique

perspectives.

It details the sheer hard work and personal pressures the team faced along the way, from the day in January 2020 when they first heard the news of the virus in China, to the day the vaccine efficacy was revealed, and then rolled out around the world.

It explores the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy, how science is communicated in the media, and how science and politics collide. It also looks to the future and asks what lessons can be learned from this pandemic to prepare us for a next time

As part of the MK Lit Fest, Professor Green will be discussing her work with Oliver Mytton, who is deputy director of Public Health for Milton Keynes.

The event will be held on Thursday November 18 at 7pm and people can view it online via Zoom.

Tickets for this event can be purchased online at the Festival website www.mklitfest.org.

The interview is one of a string of events held by MK Lit Fest . They include author readings, Q&A sessions, masterclasses and workshops.

Other Zoom events at the festival include a Nature Writing Workshop with Emma Decent on Thursday November 11 at 7pm, and a talk by Sunday Times Number One internationally bestselling author and famed Stony Stratford resident Sarah Pinborough.

Sarah will be talking to another Stony Stratford resident Caz Tricks about her psychological thriller Behind

Her Eyes, its famous ending and smash hit Netflix six-part dramatization. She will also discuss her latest novel, Dead To Her, which is now in development with Amazon Studios.

This event will be held on Thursday December 2 at 7pm.

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