The Australian Academy of Science collaborated with the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to deliver a series of online events focused on scientific responses to COVID-19. These events shared lessons from around the Asia-Pacific region for responding to the pandemic and build linkages to contribute to COVID-19 recovery.
These events were delivered under the Australian Government's Regional Collaborations Programme, which increases scientific collaboration through research and innovation.
Past events
Impacts of COVID-19 on international research collaboration
Date: Tuesday 22 June 2021
This was the final event in a series of webinars delivered in collaboration between the Australian Academy of Science and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
This event was a broad discussion on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientific research and international cooperation. In a time when a pandemic is relying on a global coordinated scientific response, COVID-19 restrictions are changing the way we collaborate in the laboratory, in the office, and in the conference hall.
Dr Diane Griffin
Vice-President, National Academy of Sciences, USA
Liza Noonan
Head of Global, CSIRO, Australia
Professor Tan Sze Wee
Assistant Chief Executive (Enterprise), A*STAR, Singapore
COVID-19 and indigenous populations
Date: Thursday 29 April 2021
This event was the fourth in a series of webinars delivered in collaboration between the Australian Academy of Science and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
Our panellists from Australia, Canada and Mexico discussed how COVID-19 is impacting indigenous populations around the world.
Dr Dawn Casey
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), Australia
Dr María Graciela Freyermuth Enciso
Centre for Research and Higher Education Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS), Mexico
Dr Sergio Meneses Navarro National Public Health Institute, Mexico
A/Prof Margaret P. Moss
First Nations House of Learning, University of British Columbia, Canada
Genome Sequencing COVID-19
Date: Tuesday 23 March 2021
Genome sequencing has been around for decades and has become faster and cheaper in more recent years. But how is it currently being used across the world in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic?
Genome sequencing allows the tracking of small mutations in SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, meaning chains of transmission can be identified. Genome sequencing also assists in identifying missing links in the chain of transmission, which indicates when there are undetected viral sources in the community.
Our panellists from Australia, Brazil, China and Italy discussed examples of global collaboration to sequence and track the evolving variants of SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus.
Professor Ben Howden
Microbiological Diagnostic Unit (MDU) Public Health Laboratory, Doherty Institute, Australia
Dr Ming-Kun Li
Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China
Dr Alessandro Marcello
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Italy
Dr Ana Tereza Ribeiro de Vasconcelos
National Laboratory of Scientific Computing (LNCC), Brazil
Testing and tracing for COVID-19
Date: Tuesday 23 February 2021
After a year of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, we've all become hyper-alert to any news about community-spread case numbers. But how are these cases detected and determined?
There are a range of measures to detect and trace COVID-19 in the community, each with its own advantages. For example, sewage testing can be used to determine whether COVID-19 is active in the surrounding area, while nasal and throat swabs can be administered to many people at low cost.
Research by the ANU, which used highly sensitive antibody tests, found antibodies for COVID-19 in the blood of healthy people, and estimated that many people were carrying the virus undetected. This is just one of the trade-offs that different forms of testing make between speed, sensitivity and efficiency.
Dr Paul Bertsch
Science Director, CSIRO Land and Water, Australia
Professor Michael Bunce
EPA Chief Scientist, New Zealand
Professor Yee-Chun Chen
Director, Centre for Infection Control, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taiwan
Supercomputing to fight COVID-19
Date: Monday 7 December 2020
Supercomputing allows researchers to run large volumes of calculations in epidemiology, bioinformatics and molecular modelling. These experiments would take years to complete if worked by hand, or months if handled on slower, traditional computing platforms. Supercomputing can help our response to COVID-19 by increasing the speed with which we can model the spread of the virus, assisting in finding a vaccines and improving treatments.
Dr Daeyeon Cho
Director, Smart City Innovation Growth Engine Program, Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA)
Professor Satoshi Matsuoka
Director, RIKEN Center for Computational Science
Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen FAA
School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology
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