Georgina Ferry interviews Aris Katzourakis, Professor of Evolution and Genomics, 27 January 2022.
Professor Aris Katzourakis
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Topics discussed include (00:00:32) AK's early interest in science, virus evolution, PhD studies, post doctoral work in Oxford and later post as a professor in this area; (00:01:48) what is a virus?; (00:04:07) the role of viruses in the evolution of their hosts; (00:04:45) methods of research; (00:06:35) why viruses are interesting in the context of evolutionary biology; (00:11:00) bats as reservoir species, transmission of viruses between species; (00:14:00) AK's first interest in COVID-19, impact on life and research owing to lockdown restrictions, trade union involvement; (00:21:00) shift in research to COVID-19, work with PhD student on measuring the impact of COVID-19 in Iran, collaboration with a team at Imperial College London on the concept of herd immunity; (00:25:10) peaks of infection waves over time and a lack of natural end to the pandemic through natural immunity; (00:27:10) variants and transmission over time; (00:29:10) emergence of other viruses over time, adaptation of viruses; (00:30:32) interactive and collaborative nature of pandemic-related research, interaction by the scientific community on social media; (00:32:47) advisory and media work during the pandemic, trade union work and contribution to 'Scientists for Labour' and Independent SAGE; (00:34:54) collaborative paper with Trish Greenhalgh on mitigation measures at universities, an open letter in the British Medical Journal 'COVID-19: An urgent call for global 'vaccines-plus' action'; (00:37:40) natural selection and evolution of the COVID-19 virus; (00:40:15) Government response to scientists and scientific advice; (00:42:55) endemicity; (00:46:46) personal response to COVID-19; (00:48:45) working hours during the pandemic; (00:50:00) the impact of the pandemic on teaching; (00:54:28) the University's response to the pandemic; (00:56:30) the impact of the pandemic on personal well-being; (00:58:10) research questions to explore in the future, including the emergence of new variants; (01:00:54) changes to approach to work as a result of the pandemic.
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The Collecting COVID oral history project captures the University of Oxford's research response during an unprecedented time, revealing the professional and personal stories of a diverse range of individual researchers and teams. Since November 2021, science writer and broadcaster Georgina Ferry has interviewed researchers and support staff from across Oxford’s academic divisions, capturing the story of the pandemic, as seen through the eyes of those at the forefront of research...