Sarah Gilbert

Early life and education Sarah Catherine Gilbert was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire. Her father was an office manager for a shoemakers and her mother was a primary school teacher. Gilbert attended Kettering High School for Girls, where she realised that she wanted to work in medicine. She earned nine O-Levels with six A grades. While at UEA she began playing the saxophone, which she would practise in the woods around the UEA Broad so as not to disturb others in her halls.

She moved to the University of Hull for her doctoral degree, where she investigated the genetics and biochemistry of the yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides, graduating with a PhD in 1986. In 1994, Gilbert returned to academia, joining the laboratory of Adrian V. S. Hill. Her early research considered host–parasite interactions in malaria. She became a University lecturer in 1999 and she was made a Reader in Vaccinology at the University of Oxford in 2004. These viral vaccinations induce a T cell response, which can be used against viral diseases, malaria and cancer. It makes use of one of the core proteins (nucleoprotein and matrix protein 1) inside the Influenza A virus, not the external proteins that exist on the outside coat.

As the immune system weakens with age, conventional vaccinations are not effective for elderly. The universal flu vaccine does not need to be reformatted every year and stops people from needing a seasonal flu vaccine. Her first clinical trials, which were in 2008, made use of the Influenza A virus subtype H3N2, and included daily monitoring of the patient's symptoms. It was the first study that demonstrated that it was possible to stimulate T cells in response to a flu virus, and that this stimulation would protect people from getting the flu. The same vector was also used to create a vaccine against Nipah which was effective in hamsters (but never proven in humans), in addition to a potential vaccine for Rift Valley Fever that was protective in sheep, goats, and cattle (but not proven in humans).

Gilbert has been involved with the development of a new vaccination to protect against coronavirus since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She leads the work on this vaccine candidate alongside Andrew Pollard, Teresa Lambe, Sandy Douglas, Catherine Green and Adrian Hill. As with her earlier work, the COVID-19 vaccine makes use of an adenoviral vector, which stimulates an immune response against the coronavirus spike protein.

In April 2020, Gilbert was interviewed about the developments by Andrew Marr on BBC television. That same month, Gilbert was reported as saying that her candidate vaccine could be available by September 2020, if everything goes to plan with the clinical trial, which has received funding from sources such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Gilbert delivered an update in September 2020 that the vaccine, AZD1222, was being produced by AstraZeneca while phase III trials were ongoing. Because of her vaccine research, Gilbert featured on The Times ' 'Science Power List' in May 2020.

In 2021, Gilbert and Catherine Green published Vaxxers: the inside story of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and the race against the virus.

Recognition Gilbert was the subject of BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific in September 2020. She was also on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020, and became a senior associated research fellow at Christ Church, Oxford. Gilbert was awarded the Rosalind Franklin medal for her services to science by Humanists UK at its annual Rosalind Franklin Lecture on 5 March 2021, at which she delivered a lecture titled 'Racing against the virus'. The lecture detailed the history of the science of vaccination and recounted the progress of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

In June 2021, Gilbert received a standing ovation at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. In 2021, as a role model (Barbie Shero), Sarah Gilbert had a Barbie doll made in her honour by the toy manufacturer Mattel.

Awards 2021 – Humanists UK Rosalind Franklin Medal 2021 – Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to science and to public health in COVID-19 vaccine development 2021 – Princess of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research 2021 – Royal Society of Medicine Gold Medal 2021 – Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) 2022 – Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of East Anglia 2022 – Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Bath 2022 - Geoffrey Schild Award 2023 – King Faisal Prize in Medicine 2023 – Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS)

Personal life Gilbert gave birth to triplets in 1998. Her husband, Rob Blundell, gave up his career to be their primary parent. Her publications include:

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