European Science-Media Hub
Bringing scientists, journalists and policymakers together : communicate better sound science to all
Rosa Garcia-Verdugo studied biochemistry and after some years at the bench, got a PhD in Neurobiology at the Max Planck Institute. She is the founder of the website starvingneuron.com and collaborates with various science outreach networks in Spanish and English.
She is currently working as a science journalist for the German Cancer Research Centre and as a freelance writer and communication consultant for biotech companies and European funded research projects.
Interview with Dr Sylvie Briand, Director of the Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention department at the World Health Organization (WHO). The rise of new variants, such as Omicron, appears linked to immune-deficient carriers. What is the relationship between the occurrence of these events and vaccination rates? Sylvie Briand: Surely, unvaccinated, immune-deficient people who become ...
Before the winter holidays, a new, more transmissible variant was discovered. By now, Omicron is responsible for most new infections in Europe. What do we know so far? And what are the future possible scenarios?
Interview with Dr Ole Heuer, Public Health Emergency Manager for the Covid-19 pandemic at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). What do we know about the severity of the symptoms associated with the Omicron variant? Ole Heuer: By 21 January 2022, there were more than 150000 reported Omicron infections in the European ...
Interview with Prof. Edvard Moser. On 12 October, the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA), in collaboration with the International Brain Initiative (IBI) and the Kavli Foundation, organised a workshop at the European Parliament entitled "The International Brain Initiative – Shaping the future of globally coordinated neuroscience”. Keynote speaker was Prof Edvard ...
Interview with Ira Haavisto, Senior Research Manager at the Nordic Healthcare Group Finland, responsible for the public healthcare system analysis work package of the EU-funded Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems project. Why was intensive care unit occupancy an interesting research topic for the Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems project (HERoS)? Ira Haavisto: We ...
Interview with Gyöngyi Kovacs, Erkko Professor in Humanitarian Logistics at the Hanken School of Economics (Finland) and coordinator of the EU-funded Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems project. What inspired the Health Emergency Response in Interconnected Systems (HERoS) project? Gyöngyi Kovacs: HERoS kicked off around April 2020, just a few weeks after the first wave ...
A European research consortium (HERoS) was set up to learn from the present COVID-19 pandemic and to provide decision-makers with the necessary information and tools to more efficiently and effectively respond to future disease outbreaks. Some outcomes of this collaboration include a tool to optimise cross-border intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy in hospitals and a fact-checking observatory to combat misinformation.
Patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia often need to be mechanically intubated and have an increased mortality risk. Tocilizumab, a drug used against the cytokine storm underlying this clinical condition, has shown positive effects in clinical trials.