On Tuesday 15^th March, Professor Philip Goulder from the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford gave a talk in the Olivier Hall about his recent study into the way in which the different sexes respond to immunisations. Pupils at Teddies and other local schools helped him with the study last year by agreeing to have blood tests before and after their Covid vaccine.

Lower Sixth Form members of MedSoc, Karen Teng and Keneolisa Oreh, write:
'The talk began with a brief introductory interview of Professor Philip Goulder about his career, by Dr Fletcher. This gave us insight into his daily life as a researcher and how it varies from lab and clinical work.  ‘Clinical work can be tiring but research always reveals new things,’ Professor Goulder remarked.  
Professor Goulder started the presentation of his research with Darwin’s concept of natural selection, and how it accounts for different features between animals of the opposite sex from the same species. Next, he went on to talk about how the immune responses are different between two sexes, which led him to speak about the effects of immune sex differences on health: cancer, infections, COVID-19, vaccines, and HIV. Considering all the facts, he concluded that sex should be considered during vaccination programs, especially in the event that there is a vaccine shortage – something that many countries have encountered in the fight against the current pandemic. We found that the talk equipped us with greater understanding of immune responses and what a career in STEM could look like.'