RDG Cafe Scientifique – Whooping cough vaccines: a century of good science & bad

Links to the local STEAM Groups + Social Media Link Tree

We are looking for speakers for 2025 & beyond. If you would like to get involved and support your local Science community please get in touch – email: scienceinreading [at] gmail.com or twitter: Science in Reading (@Science_Reading) Speaking slot availability can be found here.

A friendly Science focused group entertaining the local community with the fascinating world of science – events from hands on workshops to engaging talks. Everyone welcome!

Our monthly meetups are held upstairs at Zero Degrees (9 Bridge St, Reading RG1 2LR) from 7pm.

So please do come along, grab a beer/food at the downstairs bar (the mango beer and wood fired pizza are epic) and enjoy a relaxed evening of talks + networking + beers.

7:00pm Arrivals
7:30pm Welcome and Introductions
7:35pm Whooping cough vaccines: a century of good science & bad (David Miles – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
8:20pm Comfort Break
8:30pm Q&A
9:00pm Networking
9:30pm End

More Information

Whooping cough vaccines: a century of good science & bad (David Miles – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)

A hundred years ago, whooping cough killed more than one in every hundred children born in Europe.

Eighty years ago, two women in Grand Rapids, Michigan, developed the vaccine that stopped it. All it took was years of working evenings and weekends, an army of volunteer healthcare workers and lab technicians funded by donations from local businesses.

Fifty years ago, their whooping cough vaccine was at the centre of a scare that ushered in the modern antivaccine movement.

The story of the whooping cough vaccine is a story of good science, bad science and of the limitations of science when applied to anything as complicated as human beings.

David Miles is an infectious disease immunologist who has worked mostly on diseases of childhood in Africa and the vaccinations that protect against them. He now lives in London and tutors on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s online MSc course. His first popular science book, How Vaccines Work, was published in March 2023.

If you would like to get involved and support your local Science community please get in touch – email: scienceinreading [at] gmail.com or twitter: Science in Reading (@Science_Reading)

Speaking slot availability can be found here.

We meet 1st Tuesday of the month. Format is gathering from 7.00pm with talks commencing at 7.30pm. Talks timings are completely flexible but generally 40-60mins + Q&A with a ~20mins break to encourage social networking.

Contact’s: email: scienceinreading [at] gmail.com or twitter: Science in Reading (@Science_Reading)