Ria Lina's Behind

Hi folks! Following a summer break I am back with Dr. Joe Grove, a viral immunologist and Sir Henry Dale Fellow, funded by the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society for his work in viral immune evasion,  based at the Institute of Immunity and Transplantation at UCL (you can find him on twitter @grovelab). He joins me in this episode to discuss his area of expertise: our immune reactions to infection and what we particularly know so far about what happens when infected with SARS2. We then also talk about some of the vaccine trials that are currently ongoing, how vaccine trials work and how they differ from each other. 

Hi Folks! This episode is exactly what it looks like - all about masks. It stems from a debate I had on Talk Radio with Piers Corbyn, who is a staunch anti-masker. I decided to, therefore, invite Dr. Joe Grove, @grovelab (who is going to do an episode all about the immune response to SARS2, so look out for that) to come and chat with me all about the science and (new!) messaging of masks. If you are sitting on the fence, then this episode is for you, or even if, you are wearing one because you know it's a good thing to do, but you don't know why.  If you are wearing a mask with a value!!! this episode is definitely for you (please stop wearing that mask!)

This is a fun one, despite the seriousness of the topic, I hope you enjoy!

Hi folks. This episode is incredible. My guest is Dr Cheryl Hudson (@hudscheryl), Lecturer in US Political History at the University of Liverpool. We speak of everything to do with race relations in the USA from the abolition of slavery after the American Civil War (1865), through Reconstruction, via Jim Crow, Tulsa, Chicago Riots, FDR's New Deal, Redlining, Martin Luther King, OJ Simpson, Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Black Lives Matter and Statues. In under 75mins.  

Hi Folks. This episode I am joined by Dr Tony Sewell CBE who is CEO of Generating Genius (@generatingg), the charity that looks to get disadvantage children into STEM courses at Universities across the UK. Himself a child of Windrush immigrants he speaks with me about all things to do with what has led up recent race protests and the Black Lives Matter movement including the UK's relationship with the slave trade, the guilt that many black people carry with them all these decades later, the Windrush scandal, and current approaches by both protesters and establishment alike. He also outlines what he believes the solution to be to both race relations and the economy in this post-Brexit, mid-pandemic Britain we find ourselves in.

You would think with the whole world mad at you for letting a virus escape a wet market and infect literally all of humanity,  you would keep your head down and try and get on with finding the source/a cure/a vaccine. But that's not how China rolls. While the pandemic was not intentional,  taking advantage of the world being more than pre-occupied with its health and making a further move to restrict freedoms in Hong Kong was. Is China getting a little too big for its boots or has it yet again just been misunderstood? Here to discuss the history, geopolitics and possible futures of the ex British Crown Colony with me this episode is Austin Williams (@future_cities) lecturer, director of the Future Cities Project (futurecities.org.uk) and founder of the MantTownHuman manifesto.

Hi folks! In this episode, I speak with Dr Colin Brown (@cstewartb on twitter) an infectious diseases expert who splits his time between working for Public Health England in Glocal Health management and as an honorary clinician at the Royal Free Hospital. He is perfectly placed to contextualise the handling of this pandemic both in the UK and around the world in light of previous epidemics and explain in more detail the purpose of modelling, the reality behind flattening the curve vs herd immunity,  the evidence of mutational strains, and what our 'new normal' will look like.

Hi folks! Don't know about you but I am ready for lockdown to end, but I don't want to get sick, or even worse, infect others. One of the solutions being touted is an app that we would all download on our phones called a Test, Track and Trace App. Apparently the app records everywhere we go and everyone we've been with - or does it? To help me with all this and more is statistician, author and speaker Timandra Harkness. Author of 'Big Data: Does Size Matter?' (available from all major book sellers), @timandraharknes on twitter. She explains exactly how the app is going to work in the UK, compared to those systems already in place in Singapore, South Korea and Germany. But she will also help with those other statistically important yet niggly questions like: what exactly is this magical number 'R'? And what exactly do the graphs at the government briefings really tell us? And, Can my risk of succumbing COVID-19 be calculated? 

Hi Folks! So episode 3 we already are going back to the science because it's evolving so quickly! I invite Professor Greg Towers (@towerslab) back and in this episode, we discuss the truth behind PPE - shortages, usage and efficacy; we understand the different tests that are available and what they can tell us, including masks, are they all they are cracked up to be?; Vaccines - is one even possible?; The Chinese cover-up, where did Sars-CoV-2 actually come from? Is it a man-made disaster? Did it leak from a lab?; 5G and the truth behind the (conspiracy) theory; Is there a genetic component to the death rates that might account for the disproportionate number of male and ethnic minority fatalities? Pets! Will our own best friends be our demise, and finally the PHE and the media - from a scientist's perspective - how well are we managing this crisis?