April 30, 2021
Where there’s a will there’s a way: in a healthier global climate, we would have marked the culmination of almost five years of extraordinary work with a collective gathering in France, to share milestones and achievements. Instead, this year saw ZikaPLAN members, stakeholders, supporters and partners come together via Zoom – and it was no less an event for it.
Across February and March, to reflect on the transnational vision that united us back in 2016 to combat Zika virus, we hosted a series of open access public webinars featuring some of the key participants in this global health study.
Assisted by our partners The Global Health Network, ZIKAlliance and ZIKAction, we were able to produce several live presentations with interactive Q&As. We were delighted to be joined by around 100 participants for each of the three, three-hour sessions, exploring the finer details and implications of some of our studies into the 2015-2016 Zika epidemic, with reference to the current context of global public health concerns around Covid-19.
Whether you were able to attend the webinars live or missed them at the time, you now have the chance to view the proceedings via the recordings available on YouTube.
Hear from some of our leading researchers as they reflect on the multidisciplinary scientific response to the Zika outbreak, tracking its trajectory from the first reported evidence in Uganda in 1947, to the sudden upsurge of cases in Latin America in 2015.
From virus biology and mosquito genetics, to disease modelling analysis and tech-based innovations that networked communities and teams from across the world, through to the ongoing and urgent questions around levelling up the research playing field in terms of socio-economic disparities, the ZikaPLAN team tackled almost every conceivable angle.
Catch the replays here and do please help to spread the word via your own networks. As several of our contributors noted, while the project may have come to an end, the work we started will continue thanks to the research collaborations and community bonds we were able to be part of.
Watch our webinars
Pioneering research: scientists united in global effort to combat Zika
Zika and the nervous system: emerging lessons for emerging viruses