In 1798, Edward Jenner, a physician practicing in Berkeley, a small town in the West of England, published, at his own expense, details of observations and experiments that showed that humans could be protected from smallpox by the inoculation of pustular material from cases of cowpox. At that time, smallpox claimed the lives of 20% or more of the European population. Jenner also recognized that the virus of cowpox could be maintained from person to person. His publication “An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae” led to the widespread use of the procedure which quickly became known as vaccination. In 1885, almost a century after Jenner’s publication, Louis Pasteur tested what he called a “rabies vaccine” thereby extending its meaning beyond its Latin word associations with cows and cowpox virus. Since that time, many vaccines have been developed to control disease in people and animals. Indeed, such is the power of vaccines that two viral diseases, smallpox and rinderpest (a disease of cattle) have been globally eradicated. It is anticipated that other viral diseases such as polio and measles will soon be eradicated. Indeed, it is conceivable that COVID-19 will be eradicated within a decade. This lecture presents a personal perspective of the history of vaccination and describes the advances in technology from Jenner’s use of cowpox virus to protect against smallpox to today’s sophisticated mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Speaker:
Prof. Paul Gibbs, an expert in the field of virology and veterinary science, will present the history of vaccination and describes the advances in technology from Dr. Edward Jenner's use of cowpox virus to protect against smallpox to today's sophisticated mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Date: March 17
Time: 7 – 9 PM (Taipei time)
This lecture will be held via Google Meet. The link will be provided after you complete the online registration.
2 points for TMU Global Learning Passport for students. 2 hours of TMU education training credits for faculty.
For more information, please contact International Research Section (ogeirs@tmu.edu.tw)
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