HAPPENING TODAY!

ISAC's free COVID-19 Variants webinar is happening today!

COVID-19 Variants: what are they and what do they mean for the global pandemic 

12 April 2021 at 13.00 (UK time) /14.00 (CET)**

As the pandemic has progressed, molecular epidemiology has been an important tool in monitoring the progress of the infection across the world. Novel variants of SARS-CoV2 have been identified and there has been much speculation about the characteristics of these variants in terms of transmissibility, pathogenicity and vaccine escape. This exciting webinar will explore these issues and the role of new virus variants in the development of the pandemic.

~~~Please note that participants will be able to download a certificate of attendance during the webinar.~~~

Speakers

Professor Sharon Peacock FMedSci CBE is the Executive Director and Chair of the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium.

Professor Peacock will present a session on "COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) and the role of COVID-19 sequencing and epidemiology in the UK".

The COG-UK consortium has been created to deliver large-scale and rapid whole-genome virus sequencing to local NHS centres and the UK government. COG-UK is made up of an innovative partnership of NHS organisations, the 4 Public Health Agencies of the UK, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and over 12 academic partners providing sequencing and analysis capacity.

The consortium is supported by £20 million funding from the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, administered by UK Research and Innovation.

The virus genome data is combined with clinical and epidemiological datasets in order to help to guide UK public health interventions and policies. The data will enable researchers to identify and understand genetic changes that affect how easily the virus is passed on and the severity of the symptoms it causes. It will also help to target the development of treatments and vaccines and monitor their impact as they are introduced.

Dr Chantal Reusken, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands

Dr Reusken will present a session on "Molecular epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. Experience from the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and Environment".

Chantal Reusken works as principal expert Virology at the Centre for Infectious Disease Control (CIb) of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven. Chantal has worked in the field of Virology since 1992 with a focus from the Public Health perspective since 2005. She holds a PhD in Virology from Leiden University.
She worked for five years as group lead Public Health Virology at Erasmus MC and before that for 9 years at CIb-RIVM, the last three years as head of the unit for rare and emerging viral diseases and laboratory response. She is coordinator of the ECDC-funded European expert laboratory network for emerging viral diseases “EVD-LabNet” and chairs the WHO COVID-19 reference lab at RIVM. Furthermore Chantal is regularly serving as expert on international committees and consultant groups of organizations such as ECDC, UNICEF and WHO.
Her activities focus on emerging viral disease laboratory preparedness and response and as such she works at the research-diagnostics interface. Her research has a focus on pathogens moving at the animal-human interphase like arboviruses, rodent-borne viruses, hemorrhagic fever viruses and emerging coronaviruses.

 ** All time zones