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Vaccines | January 2025

Dame Sarah Gilbert: The Scientist Who Helped Save Millions of Lives

Image of Vaccinologist Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert

Dame Sarah Gilbert, Born in April 1962, is a vaccinologist whose groundbreaking work on the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has saved millions of lives worldwide.

Image of Vaccinologist Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert receives Barbie doll, History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, UK - 30 Jul 2021
Dame Sarah Gilbert & her Barbie
Andy Paradise/Shutterstock

In 1983, Gilbert graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of East Anglia. She then pursued a PhD at the University of Hull, focusing her studies on the genetics and biochemistry of the yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides, and earned her doctorate in 1986.

By 1994, the University of Oxford had become her professional home. When the Jenner Institute was established in 2005, Gilbert was among its founding members. Her research has played key roles in developing viral vectored vaccines that elicit strong immune responses, targeting threats like influenza, MERS, Nipah virus, and Lassa virus.

As 2020 began, a new global public health challenge emerged. Upon hearing about a mysterious respiratory illness in China, Gilbert and her dedicated team sprang into action. Leveraging their expertise with adenoviral vectors, they created the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine to combat the emerging SARS-CoV-2 virus. Clinical trials progressed at an unprecedented pace, leading to the vaccine’s approval in the United Kingdom by December 30, 2020. Since then, over 3 billion doses have been distributed worldwide.

Gilbert was honored in 2021 as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to science and public health. The same year, she received the Albert Medal from the Royal Society of Arts and the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research. In a charming tribute to her impact, Mattel crafted a Barbie doll in her likeness, celebrating her as a role model for aspiring female scientists.B

Beyond the lab, Gilbert co-authored “Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus,” providing an intimate look into the vaccine development process.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Public Health Landscape or Valent BioSciences, LLC.

More from Vaccines | January 2025

Michele Banks: The Pulse of Life in Ink and Color

Michele Banks, known as Artologica, is a Washington, D.C.-based artist using watercolor and ink to explore themes such as cell division, neuroscience, the microbiome, and climate change. Her pieces capture a slightly abstracted scientific imagery, creating beautiful interpretations of biological and environmental processes.

Banks has exhibited her work at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and major scientific conferences, including the Society for Neuroscience and the American Society for Microbiology. Her art has appeared on journal covers, in textbooks, and in publications such as Scientific American, The Scientist, and Wired.

Supercomputer Using AI to Develop Vaccines

A £225m supercomputer is using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop new drugs and vaccines.

When it is fully operational this summer, the Isambard-AI computer in Bristol will be the most powerful supercomputer in the UK.

Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled plans to “unleash AI” across the UK in an effort to boost growth.

Simon McIntosh-Smith, a professor in high-performance computing at Bristol University, said the Isambard-AI meant the UK “genuinely can be competitive with the world”.

A Shining New Age of Vaccines

With vaccines, history repeats itself like music stuck in a loop. On the one hand, advancing technologies create vaccines against a growing list of lethal diseases and conditions. On the other hand, outrageous myths and conspiracy theories compete against science. Familiar and strong emotions run the gamut, from relief when deadly diseases like smallpox are eradicated to anger about perceived dangers to health, governmental overreach and threats to freedom of choice. While religious, commercial, pseudo-scientific and political interests cash in on the confusion, context and meaning are sometimes lost or forgotten. Telling facts apart from misinformation becomes difficult.

Understanding how vaccines are evolving can help better understand both why they are one of medical science’s supreme triumphs and also why the anti-vaccine movement continues to grow and influence so many.

Types of Vaccinations

This infographic from Boston University provides a side-by-side comparison of different types of vaccinations, showcasing their similarities and differences in how they trigger and support the body’s immune response.