UB, Buffalo Museum of Science partner to answer vaccine questions

Published January 26, 2021

Although COVID-19 vaccination efforts are ramping up across Western New York, for many people, questions about vaccines remain.

To answer their questions, UB’s Genome, Environment, and Microbiome Community of Excellence and the Buffalo Museum of Science will host “Conversations in Science: COVID Vaccines,” a free online event that will allow the public to present questions and lingering concerns to researchers and health care workers.

The session will take place from 6-7 p.m. Jan. 27. To receive a Zoom link to the free event, register online. To submit questions in advance, please email ggraham@sciencebuff.org.

The session will address such topics as how vaccines work to help our immune systems, what is immunity and herd immunity, and more.

Speakers include Thomas Melendy, associate professor of microbiology and immunology; Jill Tirabassi, clinical assistant professor of family medicine; Manmeet Pal Singh Bhalla, postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology; and Rasheen Powell, doctoral candidate in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, all in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. Jennifer Surtees, UB GEM co-director and associate professor of biochemistry in the Jacobs School, will moderate.

The event is part of Conversations in Science, a series, presented by RP Oak Hill Building Company, which offers scientists and researchers an opportunity to informally chat with the community about trending science topics.