Sting of Science: Venom, Vaccines, and Activism

What comes to your mind when you think of a scorpion? Perhaps the 6 legs, or that notorious venom, it might just be ‘the ick’. However, there is more to the humble scorpion than meets the eye. Over the course of a 20-minute, round the world odyssey, we will investigate the Deathstalker scorpion, using it as a case study to explore two parallel topics in venom research: the neglected disease of scorpionism, and venom as a cure. We will then pose the question: Who should benefit from venom research?

You may not have heard of Pneumococcus but you will have heard of the nasty conditions it causes – bacterial pneumonia, meningitis, and sinusitis to name but a few. Despite having effective vaccines, over 5000 cases of pneumonia are diagnosed each year in England and even better vaccines are urgently needed. We want to better understand human immunity and rapidly test new vaccines for this important disease. We're the Liverpool Vaccine Group - join us to hear about our cutting edge work and why it matters for you and your family.

Join my exploration as I tackle these related questions: 1) What is (should be) Global Health?; 2) How do you climb out of a science silo? 3) Should scientists be activists?