https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55043551

Prof Sarah Gilbert: The woman who designed the Oxford vaccine

If Prof Sarah Gilbert had gone with her instincts, the latest coronavirus vaccine to show highly promising results might never have been.

Years ago, studying for her PhD, she considered packing in science altogether. As a young student in biological sciences at the University of East Anglia, she was energised by the diversity of thought and experience in the department.

But when she progressed to her doctorate, at the University of Hull, she found the tunnel-like focus was not to her liking.

"There are some scientists who will happily work more or less on their own on one subject for a very long time… That's not the way I like to work. I like to try to take into account ideas from lots of different areas," she told BBC Radio 4's The Life Scientific, earlier this year.