News Archive

Reading in the news - Thu 12 Nov

COVID-19: expert comment on the coronavirus pandemic

• Dr Al Edwards (Pharmacy) was quoted in the Daily Mail and MSN following comments he made on Radio 4's Today programme about the cold temperatures required to store Pfizer's vaccine. He was also interviewed on BBC Radio Gloucester and BBC Wiltshire.
• Dr Simon Clarke (Biological Sciences) wrote a piece for The Spectator on why we must remain cautious about the latest vaccine developments - he spoke to Russia Today on the same subject. Dr Clarke was also in The Times (print also) on chicken antibodies as a defence against Covid; Wired on mass testing and spoke to Al Jazeera on Tuesday.
• Professor Ian Jones (Biological Sciences) is quoted in The Times (£), The Daily Mail, Reuters, The Telegraph (print and live blog also), The Independent (app edition), Yahoo News, BBC Science Focus, LBC Online and multiple international, national and regional/local outlets (including Gulf Daily News, Wales Online, Irish Examiner, Farm Week and many more) on Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which it claims is 92% effective at protecting people from COVID-19. Dr Jones is also quoted in The Sun and Albawaba on the virus mutation in mink in Denmark.
• The EU commissioner for health, Stella Kyriakides - a former Reading student - is calling for greater public health powers after the Covid ‘wake-up call', reports The Guardian. The article also appears on Yahoo News.

#WeAreTogether: Reading's work to tackle the coronavirus crisis. Read our round-up

• ITV Meridian interviewed Deputy Vice-chancellor Professor Parveen Yaqoob for a feature on mass student testing. Professor Yaqoob featured on BBC Radio Berkshire news bulletins yesterday following her breakfast interview also on mass student testing - the radio station also spoke to students about their thoughts on the plans, as did BBC Hereford and Worcester.
• GetReading, The Reading Chronicle and Reading.co.uk reported the statement from Professor Yaqoob on mass student testing.

The Wollstonecraft statue: Dr Jacqui Turner (History) is in The Daily Express (print) commenting on the controversial nude statue of Mary Wollstonecraft, an English writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights.

Reading Countdown report: Reading.co.uk reports on the launch of the Reading Countdown report, launched this week as part of Reading Climate Festival, which studied the specific effects of climate change on the health of Reading's population, and assessed efforts to mitigate these. Read our news story here.

Other coverage

• Prof Jane Setter (Language and Linguistics) was on BBC Radio Berkshire ahead of her public lecture last night on accents and why people react to them in different ways.
• An article in The Psychologist looking at the allure of mysteries features comment from Prof Kou Murayama (Psychology).
• Bio Med Central reports on the origins of #BlackInCardioWeek, which celebrates black scientists working in cardiovascular research, which was co-organised by PhD researcher Chichi Okagbue.
• Further coverage of a new study led Professor Gunter Kuhnle (Food) which has found that people who consume a diet including flavanol-rich foods and drinks could lead to lower blood pressure, in Yahoo Lifestyle.
• Food Navigator features an article on food health claims containing comment from Prof Rodney Jones (Language and Linguistics).
• Wales Online reports students' reactions to the evacuation plan for Christmas - the article quotes Jade Eastwood, a third year Geography student.
• Times Higher Education features an obituary for Don Porter, who worked at the University's Centre for Applied Language Studies for over 20 years.
• Mail Online reports on the opening of an inquest into the death of Eiichi Nakajima, a Film, Theatre and Television student who studied at Reading.