A shot in the dark: the search for a safe and effective vaccine

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage lives, scientists in more than 100 labs around the world are working around the clock to come up with a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, and several therapeutic compounds have now made it to the clinical trial stage. How do these vaccines work, and how are they developed? How soon could we realistically hope to have a vaccine and what are the risks of accelerating the timeline? How will manufacturers scale up production to meet unprecedented global demand? Who will be the first to receive the vaccine, and what can be done to ensure equitable access? Join us for a special webcast featuring two professors from McGill’s Faculty of Medicine who will discuss the daunting scientific, technical and logistical challenges of developing a vaccine that could potentially save millions of lives. With: Dr. Brian Ward, Professor, Department of Medicine’s Division of Experimental Medicine; Director, MUHC Vaccine Study Centre; Associate Director, J.D. MacLean Centre for Tropical Diseases. Dr. Jonathan Kimmelman, Associate Member, Department of Medicine’s Division of Experimental Medicine; Chair of the Ethics Committee, International Society of Stem Cell Research. When Thursday, June 11, 2020 12:00 p.m. EDT Questions? Submit your questions in advance of the webcast by emailing aoc@ Additional Resources: Please consider supporting the McGill Emergency COVID-19 Research Fund, which will make urgent research aimed at understanding and treating COVID-19, possible. Give now at: To learn more about resources and benefits available to McGill alumni visit: To sign up for alumni emails, update your information here: Follow McGill Alumni on: Facebook: Instagram: Twitter: LinkedIn: