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On 8 May 1980, the World Health Assembly declared that “the world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox”. This monumental achievement in public health history was the culmination of the work started by Edward Jenner in 1796 to develop the world’s first vaccine. Through coordinated global action, smallpox was the first and, to date, only human disease to have been eradicated.
In this online event Professor Paul Fine and Professor David Heymann, who both participated in the World Health Organisation (WHO) smallpox eradication programme, will discuss with Professor Gareth Williams, author of Angel of Death: the story of smallpox, the steps towards eradication and the lessons we might learn from it today.
This is one of a series of Jenner Conversations organised by Dr Jenner's House, Museum and Garden. Just as Edward Jenner gained inspiration for his work by connecting different disciplines, we now want to bring together thinkers with different insights and perspectives to discuss how we might face today's challenges. Join in the discussions at #JennerConversations.
Paul Fine is Professor of Communicable Disease Epidemiology at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Paul trained in zoology, veterinary medicine, parasitology and epidemiology and joined the staff at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1976. His broad research interests include infection dynamics, family studies, genetics, and the evaluation of vaccines. From 1978 to 2006 he directed the Karonga Prevention Study, exploring leprosy, tuberculosis and HIV in rural populations in Malawi. His recent focus has been on evaluation of the transmissibility of oral polio vaccine virus and its implications for the global polio eradication programme, the optimisation of infant vaccination schedules, and the field effectiveness of foot and mouth vaccines in Turkey and Iran.
David Heymann is Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Head of the Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House. David's public health career began with the smallpox eradication programme in India, where he worked for two years as a medical epidemiologist. He then joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and spent 13 years on assignment in sub-Saharan Africa, participating in the response to the first, second and third outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, investigating human monkeypox outbreaks throughout central and western Africa, and supporting ministries of health in field research aimed at better control of malaria, measles, tuberculosis and other infectious disease. On secondment from CDC, David then spent 22 years based at WHO in Geneva. In this time he led programmes on AIDS and emerging and communicable diseases, including heading the global response to SARS, and finally was named Assistant Director for Health Security and the Director General’s Representative for Polio Eradication. From 2012 to March 2017 he was chairman of Public Health England.
Gareth Williams is Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in English at University of Bristol. Gareth qualified in medicine in 1977 and, after training in London and Geneva, he built up an internationally recognised research group in diabetes and obesity in Liverpool. In 2003, he was appointed Dean of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Bristol. He has produced 200 scientific papers and written or edited over 20 medical textbooks, including the prize-winning Textbook of Diabetes. His books for general readers are Angel of Death: the story of smallpox (shortlisted for the Wellcome Medical Book Prize 2010), Paralysed with Fear: the story of polio (2013), A Monstrous Commotion: the mysteries of Loch Ness (2015), and Unravelling the Double Helix: the lost heroes of DNA (2019).
Running time: 60 minutes
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4pm BST | 5pm CEST | 11am EDT