Prof. Sarah Gilbert from Oxford. Who is the woman who developed the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine?

Although all colleagues and friends agree that Sarah is stubbornly pursuing her goal, there was a moment in her life when she wanted to give up her scientific career. If she had listened to her inner voice then, the Oxford Coronavirus vaccine would never have come into existence. However, the professor is also a practical person. The prospect of regular monthly income has prevailed …

1. On November 23, it was announced that the SARS-CoV-2 virus vaccine, which AstraZeneca is working on with the University of Oxford, meets safety standards and will soon be available for sale. The Oxford team is headed by Sarah Gilbert, 58, a professor of vaccinology
2. When the Coronavirus Pandemic broke out, Sarah Gilbert was developing a MERS vaccine in Saudi Arabia
3. Prof. Gilbert is known to work from 4am until late at night. About the vaccine she co-created, she says “we are calm”
4. Before joining Oxford, Sarah Gilbert was researching brewer’s yeast
5. The professor is a mother of adult triplets who applied for testing her vaccine
6. You can read more of these stories on the TvoiLokony home page

Before defending her doctorate, she considered abandoning her academic career

As a student of biological sciences at the University of East Anglia, Sarah was impressed by the variety of research and experiences conducted at the faculty. However, when preparing her doctorate at the University of Hull, she also took into account interdisciplinary research. After the defense, she found it uncomfortable to focus on a tiny bit of knowledge.

– There are scientists who like to stubbornly pursue one topic for a very long time. I am not one of them. I prefer to combine ideas from different fields of science, she said in an interview with BBC Radio earlier this year. “So I was considering dropping out of school and doing something else entirely.

1. Which will be first? Here’s what we know about COVID-19 vaccines?

In the end, the professor decided to “stay with a scientific career because … she needed a permanent income”.

And that was a fateful decision. Years later, it led to the announcement that, according to the results of tests, a vaccine against the coronavirus developed at the University of Oxford is highly effective in stopping the symptoms of COVID-19. So far, the results of studies indicate that the preparation is 70% effective, but scientists say these estimates are understated and should increase with dose adjustments. Then they are supposed to reach even 90 percent.

“The vaccine does not have to cure… We want it to prevent people from being hospitalized and dying. I think if we can do that, they will be happy. “

Work on vaccines began with malaria

Sarah Gilbert was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in April 1962. Her father worked in the shoe industry and her mother taught English. She was also a member of the local amateur opera association.

One of the schoolmates mentions that he remembered Sarah’s quiet stubbornness – a trait that may explain her later decision to continue her PhD despite the emerging doubts.

After defending her PhD, Sarah Gilbert got a job at a research center for brewing technology, where she worked out ways to manipulate yeast. Later she moved to healthcare. She never planned on developing vaccines. However, by the mid-90s, she was already a scientist at Oxford. There she took care of malaria.

1. This is how the virus mutates and “escapes” the vaccine. Will the coronavirus also become immune?

Her life got a little complicated when she gave birth to triplets in 1998. Raising children has become an experience that, according to one of her friends, explains Sarah’s “no-frills, concrete approach” to life. And although her partner, who quit his professional career, took over the responsibility for the children, all three of them are very closely related to their mother.

Her son Freddie describes Sarah as a very supportive person who always has the best interests of the children in mind. Each of the triplets has its own way, but they all study biochemistry. In April, they unanimously decided to take part in mom’s vaccine trials.

A stormy family discussion did not take place. Gilbert recalls, “We didn’t really talk about it at all because I wasn’t home at the time.” The professor worked around the clock. However, she was not worried about the children (who, incidentally, are doing great).

– We are aware of the side effects, we know the dose – he says – we have done similar trials many times. Of course, we do security tests, but we are calm – he adds.

The COVID-19 vaccine is based on the experience of MERS

Meanwhile, at Oxford, Gilbert was promoted to become a professor at the prestigious Jenner Institute. She founded her own research group to develop a universal flu vaccine. It is a vaccine that would be effective regardless of the virus strain.

In 2014, she conducted the first tests of a vaccine against the Ebola virus. And when he attacked MERS – Middle Eastern respiratory distress syndrome – she went to Saudi Arabia to try to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus.

At the beginning of 2020, it was just beginning the second phase of research when SARS-CoV-2 appeared in China. Professor Gilbert quickly realized that when working on a vaccine against COVID-19, she could use the methods proven previously with MERS.

– We acted quickly – says colleague prof. Gilbert from Oxford, prof. Teresa Lambe. – When Chinese scientists released the genome of the new virus, next weekend, the vaccine was basically designed.

She is committed to time, which explains some of her unconventional work placements. Prof. Lambe mentions that he already sends his e-mails at 4 am. Gilbert is known to work from very early morning until late evening.

1. Better to get vaccinated in the morning? Scientists have checked when immunity is better

The professor doesn’t like being in the spotlight

It took several weeks for the professor’s team to create a vaccine against the new coronavirus in the laboratory. The first batch of the preparation went into production at the beginning of April, then tests began under strict regimes. Gilbert describes this process as a series of small steps.

“From the outset, we see work on the vaccine as a race against the virus, not a race against other vaccine makers,” she said in the spring. – We are a university, we do not create a vaccine to earn money from it.

Colleagues from school and university describe her as a conscientious, calm and determined person and someone with “real persistence”.

“Sometimes she seems quite shy and aloof towards people,” says one of her PhD students. – Some colleagues at the Jenner Institute always feel a little intimidated by Sarah. However, when you get to know her better and spend some time with her, everything changes.

The world is now closely following prof. Gilbert, who persistently races against time.

“She hates media coverage,” says her friend, biochemist Dr. Anne Moore. “I mean, Sarah is the last person to want to be the center of attention.

The editorial board recommends:

1. Minister of Health: Coronavirus vaccines are enough for all Poles. Experts have serious doubts
2. Plasma of convalescents does not affect the treatment of COVID-19 patients! New study
3. We will probably never know the exact death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic
4. Where did SARS-CoV-2 come from? A surprising discovery in laboratory freezers

The content of the medTvoiLokony website is intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and their doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website. Do you need a medical consultation or an e-prescription? Go to halodoctor.pl, where you will get online help – quickly, safely and without leaving your home.