The Future of Healthcare Engineering...

Description

How might engineering improve cancer outcomes in the next decade? What's the future of tech in hospitals? Why did fellow scientists laugh derisively when Moderna was developing their COVID-19 vaccine?

Roma Agrawal hosts two engineers have been key in fighting back against the recent pandemic: Professor Rebecca Shipley, and Dr. Robert Langer, co-founder of Moderna and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in 2015.

Episode Highlights

“When we announced the first clinical trials of the COVID vaccine The Boston Globe - my local newspaper - had a front page headline saying 'this is not how you do science'. And then my picture was right underneath it.”

“Anytime somebody comes up with ideas that might challenge conventional wisdom, a lot of people will tell them it can't work or it's wrong. Don't give up. Dream big dreams and hope you can do things that'll make a big difference in the world."

“mRNA vaccines are a great example of interdisciplinary teams. I mean that involved biologists, chemists, MDs, engineers, chemical engineers, material scientists, digitalisation. So there's many, many skills. And of course, I think the mRNA vaccines have helped change the world.”