Experts on timely topics in the news

Expert explainer: COVID-19 vaccines for kids

Dr. Michelle Barton-Forbes, pediatric infectious diseases specialist and associate professor at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, explains what is known, so far, about the COVID-19 vaccine for kids based on data from the Pfizer clinical trial in children.


Experts available to comment on COVID-19 vaccines for kids

From addressing parents’ questions and concerns to the impact of vaccinating millions more Canadians on the pandemic’s trajectory, health, medical and ethics experts at Western University and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry are available to the media for comment.


Western Olympics and medical experts available to speak about Tokyo 2020 Games

Sports medicine experts are available to the media for comment ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games from return to sport after head injury, to sports-related joint injury, elite athlete mental health and female athlete health.


Expert Explainer: Managing re-opening anxiety

Dr. Arlene MacDougall, Assistant Professor in Psychiatry who specializes in local and global mental health and mindfulness, says anxiety is often driven by uncertainty. She provides strategies to move through this anxiety and how to support one another as the country moves into this next phase of the pandemic.


Expert Explainer: Steven Kerfoot, PhD, on how vaccines work in our bodies

As vaccine eligibility expands in Canada, Steven Kerfoot, PhD, Associate Professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, provides a clear picture of how our immune systems respond to the COVID-19 vaccine.


Expert Explainer: Art Poon, PhD, on coronavirus ‘variants of concern’

According to Art Poon, PhD, associate professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, unless we can mitigate the spread of the virus, there is a greater chance it will continue to mutate and produce more "variants of concern". Poon uses computers to reconstruct the spread and adaptation of viruses by looking at their genetic sequence variation.


Expert available to comment on evidence needed to safely send kids back to class

Dr. Charles Weijer says the uncertainty about when it's best to resume schoolkids' in-person learning could be clarified by conducting randomized trials.


Experts available to comment on COVID-19 pandemic’s emerging challenges

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the globe, experts from Western University are available to media to comment on emerging challenges, vaccine policy, infodemics, public health and the way forward.


Please contact media@uwo.ca for assistance with finding experts.