Trials & Tribulations - Developing the World-First Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine

Dr Maheshi Ramasamy is a Principal Investigator at the Oxford Vaccine Group where she leads on adult clinical vaccine trials including the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trials. Dr Ramasamy joins the podcast from the UK to take us through the challenges of developing a successful international clinical trial against the clock during a fast-moving pandemic, her experiences as a clinician scientist working on the frontline in UK COVID hospital wards and the impact of securing approval for the vaccine. MTPConnect co-hosts MD and CEO Dr Dan Grant and COO Stuart Dignam chat to Dr Ramasamy about concerns over vaccine safety, rare adverse events, vaccine hesitancy and fake news. Dr Ramasamy, an Australian Sri Lankan, shares her motivations and research interests. She also explains how her international career pathway – including working at Australia's Ballarat Base Hospital - helped her to pursue this challenge of a lifetime. Dr Ramasamy is also a Consultant Physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Deputy Director of the Graduate Entry Medicine course at Oxford and the Florey Lecturer at Oxford’s Magdalen College.