Sarah Gilbert
Dame Sarah Catherine Gilbert DBE FRS (born April 1962) is an English vaccinologist who is a Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford and co-founder of Vaccitech. She specialises in the development of vaccines against influenza and emerging viral pathogens. She led the development and testing of the universal flu vaccine, which underwent clinical trials in 2011.
Sarah Gilbert | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 1962 (age 61) Kettering, Northamptonshire, England |
| Alma mater | University of East Anglia (BSc) University of Hull (PhD) |
| Known for | Vaccinology |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Albert Medal (2021) Princess of Asturias Award (2021) King Faisal Prize (2023) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Vaccines |
| Institutions | University of Oxford Vaccitech Delta Biotechnology Leicester Biocentre Brewing Industry Research Foundation Christ Church, Oxford |
| Thesis | Studies on lipid accumulation and genetics of Rhodosporidium toruloides (1986) |
| Doctoral advisor | Colin Ratledge, Dr M. Keenan |
| Website | www |
In January 2020, she read a report on ProMED-mail about four people in China suffering from a strange kind of pneumonia of unknown origin in Wuhan. Within two weeks, a vaccine had been designed at Oxford against the new pathogen, which later became known as COVID-19. On 30 December 2020, the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine she co-developed with the Oxford Vaccine Group was approved for use in the UK. As of January 2022, more than 2.5 billion doses of the vaccine have been released to more than 170 countries worldwide.