The COVID-19 pandemic has become a defining event of the 21st century. New technologies such as ubiquitous smartphones and virus genome sequencing offer powerful new ways to understand virus transmission and to tackle the problem of epidemic spread.  But can those new tools be deployed fast enough to make a real difference to public health? And can we balance the need for privacy with the life-saving benefits of understanding how transmission occurs?

Join Prof Christophe Fraser of Oxford’s Big Data Institute, who advises the UK’s NHS COVID-19 Tracing app,  and Prof Oliver Pybus, Lead Researcher of the Oxford Martin School Programme on Pandemic Genomics, as they discuss the opportunities and challenges of successfully applying new technologies to pandemics past, present, and future.

Prof Christophe Fraser & Prof Oliver Pybus in conversation: "21st century technologies for tackling 21st century pandemics”