Over the last two years we have done a lot of reporting on the maths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Behind the maths there are of course people — those mathematicians who make the epidemiological models that do (and sometimes do not do not) inform government policy, who are grappling with the unprecedented challenge of coming to grips with a live pandemic unfolding in front of their eyes.

Our special podcast series, On the mathematical frontline, is about those people. It explores the maths they do, how they go about it, and the impact it has on their personal lives.

The first person we spoke to for this series back in February 2021 was Julia Gog, Professor of Mathematical Biology at the University of Cambridge, participant of SAGE and member of the epidemic modelling group SPI-M.

Gog is also a founding member of the JUNIPER modelling consortium we are collaborating with, and which you'll hear more about in the podcast.

So what is it like working on the mathematical frontline? Find out more with Julia Gog!