Over the past year, UCL alumna and science broadcaster Vivienne Parry OBE has spoken to staff, students and alumni from all across UCL's 11 faculties. In this week's episode, almost a year to the day since the UK first went into lock down, we are speaking to two researchers from the UCL School of Pharmacy, Oksana Pyzik, and the UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Prof Susan Michie, about that year: How far have we come, and how are we going to use all that research to improve public health policy and ensure that we're better prepared to tackle disease outbreaks and prevent future pandemics?

Watch Okana's UCL Lunch Hour Lecture here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9desxUgDr0

With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the UK well underway, in this episode we explore some of the differences in uptake in communities across the UK, with around 70% of Black people reporting that they're unlikely to have the jab.

Host Vivienne Parry is joined by a UCL team of researchers and clinicians from the Royal Free Hosptial in London - Mr Leye Ajayi, Dr Lola Emanuel-Kole, Dr Taj Fregene and Chris Brew-Graves to discuss some of the issues surrounding vaccine hesitancy, and exploring how to overcome some of the barriers to Black people being vaccinated.

What can we do to help young people recover from the pandemic?

- An International Women’s Day Special

As children across the UK start heading back to the classroom, we speak to two leading academics, Professor Monica Lakhanpaul (UCL Population Health Science) and Dr Amelia Roberts (UCL IOE), whose work focuses on children and education [respectively]. With a focus on vulnerable children, our guests tell us more about the projects they're involved with to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, in this episode we also hear about their passions and why and how they embarked upon their journeys in academia. Exploring their experiences as women academics during the pandemic, we hear about how they’re coping - and learn what we can do to support women in academia who may be struggling.

With Boris Johnson set to announce several stages for the easing of lockdown later today, rumours are circulating about what his roadmap might mean for international travel. In this week’s episode, we speak to three UCL experts to try and get to the bottom of some of these rumours, and to learn more about international travel during the pandemic and what we can expect in the future.

Our guests today:

- Prof Andreas Schafer, Chair in Energy and Transport, Bartlett School Env, Energy & Resources

- Prof Sir Jonathan Montgomerry, Professor of Healthcare Law

- Kirsty Dias-Watson, UCL Alumna & PriestmanGoode Director

In this week's episode, we're looking back at our lives in lockdown, and asking - how has the pandemic changed our routine? We speak to UCL experts, Prof Patty Kostkova (Centre for Digital Public Health and Emergencies) and Dr Adrian Brown (UCL Centre for Obesity Research), to find out more about the impact Covid-19 has had on our diet, social interactions, exercise routines, and more.

This week, we're investigating public transport. Now, in the first lockdown, many of us were able to batten down the hatches and stay indoors. But, as lockdown 3.0 continues, it's important that we stay informed about the best precautions to take if and when we do need to leave the house. And, one happy day, we're going to have to return to public transport en masse. So, in this episode, we find out if it's safe to travel, how to protect ourselves when traveling, and hear more from our experts about what we need to know when making longer journeys. 

Our guests this week:

• Sarah Beale (PhD researcher part of the Virus Watch Study team)
• Dr Paul McGovern (Transport for London Consultant Occupational Physician & Honorary Senior Teaching Fellow and Education Consultant at the UCL Medical School)
• Dr Richard Peters (National Rail Chief Medical Officer & Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer)

In this week’s episode, we’re discussing home-schooling & play, home-working, parenting - and how to juggle them all. With the latest announcement that schools won’t be reopening until at least the 8th March, we speak to three UCL experts to explore how home-schooling is affecting children and parents, and some practical tips and tricks for listeners.

UCL experts:

- Dr Sandra Leaton Gray, Institute of Education

- Prof Lorraine Sherr, Faculty of Pop Health Sciences

- Prof John Potter, Institute of Education

WHO Parenting Advice in the time of COVID-19: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/healthy-parenting

This month, mental health has come to occupy centre stage as we grapple with the impact of lockdown and the multiple assaults on our resilience caused by uncertainty, illness, recovery, financial insecurity, job losses, bereavement, homeschooling, and so much more. Our focus on mental health right now could represent a real opportunity to build back better and create a mental health system that's right for our times.

UCL experts:

- Prof Anthony David (Professor of Mental Health Director & Sackler Chair, UCL Institute of Mental Health)

- Dr Michael Bloomfield (Principal Research Fellow, Division of Psychiatry

Faculty of Brain Sciences)

Today marks a significant milestone in the UK’s vaccination programme as millions more people aged 70 and over are invited to receive their jabs. However, as we are making this progress, so is the virus. In this episode, we speak to UCL experts from the Department of Primary Care & Population Health and the Faculty of Population Health Sciences to find out more about how the vaccine roll-out works, and whether it will work on the new variant of the virus.

Special guests:

- Prof Martin Marshall

- Prof Deenan Pillay

- Prof Helen Bedford

COVID-19 has exposed and amplified the shocking pre-existing health inequalities in the UK. In this week’s episode, we’re embodying the January spirit of new year’s resolutions and looking to the future to see what needs to happen to make our communities safer and fairer.

At the end of last year, the Institute of Health Equity released their report Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review. Inspired by the mantra “Build Back Better” the report, written by Michael Marmot, Jessica Allen, Peter Goldblatt, Eleanor Herd and Joana Morrison, aims to summarise the inequalities, both in terms of those created by the pandemic and the ways it has impacted society, and make recommendations for the future. In today’s episode, we speak to Professor Sir Michael Marmot to find out more.