Meet Professor Christian Drosten | CVR 2022 Sir Michael Stoker Award Winner Podcast

The CVR Presents Research Goes Viral

Listen to the 2022 Stoker Award Winner, Professor Christian Drosten talk about his coronavirus research, challenges of science communication and the song that a German punk band wrote about him! On Monday 9 January, we welcomed 2022 Sir Michael Stoker Award winner Professor Christian Drosten to the CVR. This annual award is awarded to a highly reputable scientist to honour their significant contributions within the field of virology who have excellent transparency with their research, regularly engaging with both the public and within the research community. Candidates are nominated and voted for by students, postdocs and technical staff within the CVR - and winners are invited to the CVR for the day to receive the award, meet with our early career researchers and give a seminar. The winner of the 10th edition of the award, Professor Drosten is the director of the Institute of Virology at the Charite University Hosptial in Berlin, and is an instrumental figure in the field of coronaviruses , particularly in the areas of cross-immunity and host adaption. Some of his career highlights include the co-discovery of SARS-CoV, development of the first diagnostic WHO-approved RT-qPCR against SARS-CoV-2 and the development of RNA and antibody assays against MERS-CoV, which first implicated camels as the primary reservoir. Christian also has a general interest in the evolution, epidemiology and host-adaption of many other emerging viruses such as Ebolavirus, Avian Influenza and Zika Virus.