Webinar: The Path to an Effective COVID-19 Vaccine

DLSPH and IHPME leaders from research, policy and private industry describe the process behind the pursuit of an effective COVID-19 vaccine.

About this Event

Vaccination is the cornerstone of public health and medicine. Over the last 50 years, vaccines have saved more lives than almost any other health measure and are crucial to preventing devastating infectious diseases, such as measles, polio, pertussis and — optimistically — COVID-19.

As the world anxiously waits for a COVID-19 vaccine, there’s an opportunity to recognize the University of Toronto’s rich history in vaccine production and distribution that it shares with the Connaught Laboratories (now Sanofi Pasteur).

This webinar will touch on the Connaught Laboratories’ historical links to the University of Toronto and Canadian public health broadly. It will also explore what vaccine-makers have learned from past infectious disease scourges — such as diphtheria, tetanus, polio and smallpox — and describe the process behind the pursuit of an effective vaccine.

Join leaders in the fields of research, policy and private industry as they shed light on the pharmaceutical trajectory of new antiviral products (including the COVID-19 vaccine), from development through to testing and launch.

Moderator: Professor Terry Sullivan, Senior Fellow, IHPME

Panelists:

• Lead Panelist: Mark Lievonen, Senior Fellow, IHPME and former President of Sanofi Pasteur Limited
• Professor Vivek Goel, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives , U of T
• Professor Jeff Kwong, Interim Director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases, DLSPH

Registration is required. Registrants will receive an email including a link to the webinar TWO HOURS before the event starts on May 26.

Let’s start the conversation. Share your thoughts and questions with the hashtag #COVID19DLSPH