07/2026: Interventional Cardiology for Congenital Heart Disease: Bomb Disposal for Cowards – Dr Neil Wilson
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Category Archives: Events
06/2026: Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases – Professor Christl Donnelly
Tuesday 16th June 2026 from 19:00 for 19:30
Abingdon United Football Club (Northcourt Rd, OX14 1PL, Abingdon)
How do diseases spread and how can the analysis of data help us stop them? In this talk, Professor Donnelly will explain the quantitative modelling and statistical tools that are essential for understanding transmission dynamics and informing evidence-based policies for both human and animal health. Drawing on lessons from past epidemics and endemic diseases, across livestock, wildlife, and human populations, she will show how mathematical frameworks and statistical inference help unravel complex transmission systems. She will also highlight how novel data sources are underpinning new approaches to understanding transmission and protecting vulnerable populations.
Speaker: Professor Christl Donnelly
Christl Donnelly CBE has been Professor of Applied Statistics at the University of Oxford since 2018. Previously, she was Professor of Statistical Epidemiology at Imperial College London. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the newly formed Academy for the Mathematical Sciences. Her research spans infectious diseases in humans and in animals, with extensive experience in real-time analysis of data during major epidemics. These include the 2001 UK foot-and-mouth disease epidemic, the 2003 SARS epidemic, the 2009 influenza pandemic, the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic.
05/2026: Harnessing the Stars – the Pursuit of Fusion Power – James Edmiston
Tuesday 19th May 2026 from 19:00 for 19:30
Abingdon United Football Club (Northcourt Rd, OX14 1PL, Abingdon)
Energy consumption per capita is closely linked to quality of life. As such, the demand for power has shaped much of the innovation, politics and conflict of the previous century. With consumption expected to triple by 2050 and concerns mounting about continued carbon dioxide emissions, scalable and sustainable power is more needed than ever.
Nuclear fusion has long been hailed as the ‘holy grail’ of clean energy. In principle, it could power the world for billions of years without any of the drawbacks associated with nuclear fission (such as long-lived radioactive waste, reactor meltdowns and weapons proliferation). However, the physics and engineering challenges involved are formidable. In this talk we will discuss the history of fusion research, the myriad of proposed solutions and the technical challenges that remain.
Speaker: James Edmiston
James is a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, cosponsored by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Previously he completed an MSci and BA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and has conducted research in plasma physics at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Imperial College London. Current research interests include transport in ‘burning’ magnetically confined plasmas, magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and magnetic reconnection thrusters.