Teresa Lambe calls for 'wiser and kinder' leaders for 'the greater good'

Image: Notre Dame News

Collaboration and the diversity of thought among teams around the world was the 'superpower' that helped bring COVID-19 under control, Professor Teresa Lambe told the Graduate School Class of 2025 at the University of Notre Dame in Illinois, USA, writes Brian Byrne. The Kilcullen-born co-designer of the Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine which saved six million lives also said that kind of collaboration sometimes isn't celebrated enough.

According to a report from the event in the Notre Dame News, the former CPC student from Nicholastown — her parents are Mary and Tony Lambe — told her audience that the world doesn't just need smarter people. "It needs wiser and kinder ones. People who are not afraid to lead, and just as willing to listen, and are working for a greater good." She added that "that's the kind of graduate Notre Dame produces." Noting that she has made a career fighting 'tiny but mighty threats' that 'don't care for borders', she said "I've seen what humans can do when we put ego aside and pull together,”

With a bursary fund in her name to support CPC young women in third level in STEM subjects, she also took a swipe at the propensity to label women in her field by their gender. “I’ve often been called a ‘female scientist,’ as though my chromosomes should precede my contributions. But here’s the truth: I am a scientist. Full stop. You don’t need to label what I am to validate it. Labels can be lazy, they can be reductionist. What we need are conversations. Collaborations. Courage.”

Teresa will be awarded an honorary doctor of science degree at the university later today. Introducing her yesterday, John T McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost of Notre Dame, said her work is fuelled not just by intellect and scientific curiosity, but by a genuine care for humanity and a dedication to protecting the most vulnerable. “Her career stands as a powerful reminder that rigorous scholarship, when combined with compassion and courage, can change the world,” he said.

As Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the University of Oxford, teresa is currently focusing her research on developing and testing vaccines against a number of pathogens, including Ebola virus, Marburg virus disease, and coronaviruses.

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