Webinar series: Insights from past pandemics and preparing for the future
The Health Protection Aotearoa Research Centre at the University of Otago Wellington is running a pandemic webinar series in August 2025 spanning from ancient pandemics to what is coming next.
These FREE sessions will be from noon to 1pm on Zoom.
Register online for this pandemic webinar series.
For more information, contact:
- Fiona Taylor (fiona.taylor[at]otago.ac.nz); or
- Sarah Pirikahu (sarah.pirikahu[at]otago.ac.nz).
Insights from ancient pandemics: What the Black Death and other pandemics of the past can teach us (Monday 18th August)
Speakers:
- Professor Rebecca Gowland (Durham University, England), Bio-archaeology;
- Professor Chris Gerrard (Durham University, England), Archaeologist and medieval historian; and
- Professor Frank Krauss (Durham University, England), Physicist and disease modeller.
Insights from the 1918 influenza pandemic: Still more to learn (Tuesday 19th August)
Speakers:
- Prof Geoffrey Rice (University of Canterbury) - Social history of the pandemic in New Zealand;
- Dr Sarah Pirikahu (University of Otago Wellington) - The pandemic in numbers; and
- Hampton Gaddy (Centre for Research on Pandemics and Society, Norway) - Islands in the Pacific that escaped the pandemic and those that did not.
Insights from Covid-19: Emerging clarity (Thursday 21 August)
Speakers:
- Prof Michael Baker (University of Otago Wellington) - Emerging clarity about effective pandemic strategy, infrastructure, and engagement;
- Prof Collin Tukuitonga (University of Auckland) - Protecting Indigenous people and the Pacific; and
- Dr John Kerr (University of Otago Wellington) - Planning for pandemics means planning for misinformation.
Future pandemic threats and how we can protect ourselves (Friday 22nd August)
Speakers:
- Prof Dave Hayman (Massey University) - Reducing spillover events from zoonotic sources;
- Prof Raina McIntyre (University of New South Wales) - Preventing laboratory leaks and harmful Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC); and
- Prof Nick Wilson (University of Otago Wellington) - Anticipating and managing threats from artificial intelligence and bioweapons.