TUESDAY 1 SEPTEMBER
Another month begins. It’s all beginning to feel more and more like Groundhog Day, COVID-19 version: Wake up. Shower. Work. Home. Dinner. TV. Bed. No big nights out to break the monotony. No trips away. No spontaneous gatherings with different friends. No spontaneity at all, so every day is like plain vanilla. How will we keep going like this?
Thank God I’m a scientist. The good thing about science is that ‘new shit keeps coming to light’ as Jeffrey Lebowski says in The Big Lebowski. Why am I thinking so much about movies? Cinema longing, obviously. Here are my top five: Jaws (three movies in one: horror/ political/buddies); Withnail and I (‘Ah, Baudelaire!’); Lebowski (obviously); School of Rock (‘Raise your goblet to rock!’); and The Commitments (‘The Irish are the blacks of Europe’).
In the lab today we said a socially distanced goodbye to Sarah. She was a superb part of my team. Off to Galway to beat cancer via natural killer cells in the immune system. Gave her a Candemic T-shirt. Great having a son making merchandise – makes leaving-gifts easy.
WEDNESDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
Another busy media day: the Six One and The Six O’Clock Show. Schools reopening was top of the agenda. All over the country you can hear the sound of banging and hammering as schools are getting ready to reopen safely.
Had another session with the senior management in MTV. Chris McCarthy said he wants to pay me for my efforts on their behalf. If they pay me personally I’ll have to give half of what I get in tax, so I had a brainwave: they could make a donation to my research instead. They are happy to do that, which is very generous of them, as I only did a few sessions with them. It will help pay for one of the PhD students, who I will designate the ‘MTV Scholar’. I wonder if they will provide a lab coat with the MTV symbol on it? Had a great session with them. There are several working parents in senior management there, and they had lots of questions about schools reopening, home-schooling and all sorts. These people are mainly in the US, which just shows you, everyone has the same concerns.
THURSDAY 3 SEPTEMBER
Today scored high on the ‘recognition in the street’ index. Walking up to Newstalk from Trinity, three people said hello. One of them shouted from across the street: ‘When’s the vaccine coming?’ If only I knew. The quickest vaccine in history, which was for mumps, took four years and was approved for use back in 1967.
I must keep reminding people that the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine and the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines all use brand-new technologies that should be very powerful against this virus, so we are definitely hopeful of it taking less than four years. I think that March next year is a reasonable timeframe to start the roll-out. Bit better than four years, anyway.
On Newstalk we discussed where the virus might be from. It could have started in Vietnam or Laos, and was brought into China. Yet again, an unknown that persists. And a new era of testing may be upon us as the company AbbVie announce a $5 antigen test. This measures the spike protein in the virus using an antibody (an antigen being the thing an antibody binds to). Hope the government will act on this.
Fascinating to think that primates like gorillas and orangutans, as well as bottlenose dolphins, might be susceptible because they have an ACE2 (the lock that the viral spike key goes into) just like us. Fungie, beware!
FRIDAY 4 SEPTEMBER
Get this! I’m headed over to Galway today for a scaled-back arts festival. The exotica of a trip all the way to Galway. I’m taking part in a debate tomorrow on you-know-what. Marg drove, and it felt weird enough. Not many cars on the road. But the excitement! We stayed in a hotel! Felt different, of course. A strange atmosphere. The bar and restaurant were somewhat full but with gaps between the sets of people. Hand-sanitisers everywhere. Had to schedule when we wanted a table for breakfast.
We had dinner in the restaurant and met Caitriona Crowley, the convenor of the session, in the bar for a drink. Went to bed feeling bloated – gorged myself on the dinner and then had four pints. Honestly, I was like a dog off a leash.
SUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER
The debate was good. Dave McCullagh chaired. Paul Moynagh and Catherine Motherway (ICU doctor in Limerick) spoke. Paul said definitively that the lockdown was the only thing to do.
There was a protest today near the venue with people objecting to lockdown and masks. What don’t they see? What do they think should be done to help people? I hate negativity. People who just complain or protest with no positive suggestions. It’s OK to be realistic and negative, of course, but there should always be a counter to that.
But then I had my first confrontation with a protestor. I was chatting away to Dave and Paul after the event and one of the organisers came and said there were protestors outside waiting to talk to me. This could be interesting, I thought. Left the venue with Marg and two people came up and started shouting at me. One was filming and the other was holding up pictures of what appeared to be children who he claimed had been harmed by vaccines. He was jostling me as I walked. We walked to the car and got in. He began banging on the window, face full of hate, and then stood in front of the car. He was shouting at me and accusing me of not talking in the media about the harm vaccines do. We threatened to call the Guards. He left eventually. Maybe he’s in pain because he believes that someone he loves has been harmed by a vaccine. Love turns to hate.
We picked up Paul and drove into the centre of Galway to get something to eat. I was bothered mainly by the man’s contorted face and the spit coming out of his mouth as he yelled. Walking through a crowded street, I had a feeling of trepidation. Maybe he followed us? This was a natural response, of course. A threat is supposed to put us on our guard. Paul said not to worry in the least, as most people are cowards. I soon calmed down, sitting outside a pub and having a pint.
Drove back to Dublin in record time as not much traffic at all. Eat our wake, anti-vaxxers!
MONDAY 7 SEPTEMBER
Just how many people has COVID-19 killed? It’s so hard to get an accurate number. And excess deaths are complicated, as people might not be dying from, say, flu, but might be dying of cancer because of a lack of treatment. Worldwide, the number of deaths from COVID-19 is 413,000. But Russians have reported a strong antibody response for Sputnik V.
Big call with our Belgian collaborators today. We went through their data. Itaconate does seem to be protecting the lungs of the infected hamsters. One experiment, but hopeful. The only trouble now is that Laurens, the scientist there who did the work, is moving on to a new job so it might be tricky to get someone else to repeat it. We may need other options. Reminds me of a couple of months back when I was approached by immunologists in the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who said I was welcome to come over anytime to do experiments there. They have been given loads of funding and they are ‘hoovering up talent’, to quote. The analogy they used was the US recruiting rocket scientists from Germany in World War Two.
I may well take them up on their offer. The key thing is for us to make progress in our research, so I might send some of the team over. We’ll see. It’s better if they did experiments for us, as it would take time to train up the people from my lab over there. Sometimes research can be about tactics and interpersonal relationships as much as anything else.
TUESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER
Another hectic day. Call with Inflazome at 9 a.m. All the faces on Zoom. Stilted conversation. Odd feeling, as there is still a remote chance of the whole thing falling through. I shared what I thought was a great analogy: it’s a bit like we’ve won gold in the Olympics and we’re now waiting for the drugs test – only in this case we’ve passed the drug test and now we’re waiting for the gold.
Leaving Cert results came out today, with 61,000 students given results based on calculated grades. A Department of Education official said they had ‘split the difference’ between grade patterns in previous years and grades estimated by teachers. Overall, grades were higher than any other year on record. All very strange for the students, I should think.
WEDNESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER
Something came to me this morning. Following that attack from the anti-vaxxer, my commitment to promoting vaccines is strengthened. Any effort to decrease vaccine hesitancy is worthwhile. My new passion. See what you did, anti-vaxxer? You’ve made me even more of a vaccine zealot.
THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER
There is evidence that the heart can be badly damaged by COVID-19. One scientist put it brilliantly – ‘slashes at heart cells’. Yet again, not the flu. And a study on how a supercomputer at a laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was given the task of assessing everything we know about COVID-19 and was asked what the best thing in the immune response to target would be. It examined 2.5 billion data points, and it came up with the number 42. Joke! It actually came up with bradykinin. My PhD supervisor, Graham Lewis, who sadly passed away a number of years ago, did important work on bradykinin in the 1950s. Bradykinin has all kinds of inflammatory effects and can damage blood vessels and cause clotting, so this makes sense. There are drugs that can block it and they will now be deployed. And all because of a supercomputer. Who needs humans, eh?
Had a chat on Zoom today with Jane Ohlmeyer. She is standing for Provost, and I am on her team. Jane is tremendous. Got to know her when she was head of the history department at the same time that I was head of biochemistry. I used to love those meetings of the heads, as it was a feeling of ‘we’re all in the same boat’. You didn’t need to worry about sucking up to superiors or being a leader to the underlings. It really showed what a university is about. All these different disciplines but with one common goal: education, research, enlightenment.
Trinity has flaws, as has every university, but where we win is in collegiality and a shared vision. Jane asked me to canvass a few people. How do you canvass people when you can’t meet them? Zoom canvassing. It will certainly be like no other provostship campaign in 418 years. All those students who have come through the front gate. Generation upon generation. Jonathan Swift trod these cobbles. And Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Samuel Beckett. Look at all that knowledge that has accumulated in 400 years, though no knowledge of immunology or viruses back then. In spite of all the knowledge, this virus has brought us to our knees. All that learning will now be used to beat it, of that I have no doubt.
Finished the day with a Zoom seminar at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. A lot of people tuned in, including my old friend Professor Cash McCall. Cash is in his 80s and still doing interesting research on bacterial sepsis. Keep on rockin’, Cash!
FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER
Rory came to film from Newstalk. He’s a regular in our lab now, and I get to say the opening and closing lines for my slot with Pat at last! My work with Newstalk has ramped up to twice a week, which is then put into a podcast. Rory films the promo clips and always does an imaginative job with images. Each one looks so cool. Marah from my lab was on one recently – I was chatting to her about her work. She saw a bit of hate under it. We told her not to worry. Times we live in.
Rory is so polite in the lab. Such a sound (and film) guy. His partner works on The Vikings in County Wicklow. He was telling me she is sick of being tested twice a week, which is the policy there. I said maybe the new saliva test that is being developed will help, given how invasive the current test is. He said he’d been dragooned in as an extra a few times because of his red bushy beard. They had, however, dyed it black for authenticity, as Vikings didn’t have red hair, apparently.
SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER
NPHET announced that only two households should mix, with no more than six people. They said this will be in place for months. For crying out loud.
MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
They have found 29 proteins in the SARS-CoV2 virus that have not been seen before. This should help us develop new therapies that might target one of these to kill the virus. This kind of thing illustrates how little we know about this enemy, but how we’re learning all the time. How can you dismantle a bomb if you don’t know all the parts?
Big call with charity Versus Arthritis today. Worked for them for years, chairing their grants committee. They have announced a ‘pain challenge’. There is a huge need to develop better medicines to treat pain that aren’t addictive. They have allocated £24 million for this and want the best ideas to come forward for assessment. So many diseases keep burning away and shouldn’t be neglected because of the focus on COVID-19.
Another late-in-the-day seminar, this time at the University of New Mexico. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make a slide with Walter White and his definition of chemistry on it – ‘the science of change’. Not sure if they appreciated it or not, but since me, Sam and Stevie are watching a few episodes a week of Breaking Bad I felt it was appropriate.
Came home and cooked Mongolian lamb with the leftover lamb from yesterday. Well, I say Mongolian lamb. The recipe is a bog-standard stir-fry and you add some soy sauce, sherry and brown sugar. Easy. We could pretend that we were in Mongolia. I almost mocked up a Mongolian tent in the kitchen from a couple of duvets. Sam could have made yak noises. The thought of travel yet again is tantalising and disturbing in equal measure.
I only tormented myself further by reading more of Around the World in 80 Trains. She’s reached Japan and is whizzing around on the bullet train. Bah.
TUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER
Signed around 50 documents for Inflazome today. My signature isn’t great, it has to be said. A bit like a big ‘L’. I said to a colleague, well, I am like the Queen, who signs with an ‘E’.
In a rather disturbing development for the whole country, the entire government has been told to restrict their movements because Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly felt unwell and may be positive for COVID-19. Now there’s irony – the health minister feeling unwell. And the whole government is in quarantine. What next, I ask?
WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
Minister tested negative so the government is released. Err … phew.
There are now 30 hours to go for the clock to wind down on whether there will be an objection regarding Roche acquiring Inflazome. Not that I’m counting. Ghosting at midnight tomorrow will mean the deal is done.
THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER
Today the lab was supposed to be in Poland. We had booked the flights and accommodation to go on a lab retreat to Torun, the place where Copernicus was born. It was to have been a scientific retreat, but also to celebrate Z’s paper being accepted in Nature Communications, and also S’s paper in Cell Metabolism. It’s so important to celebrate these things, as it’s such a huge effort to make any kind of discovery and get it published. These are two important papers, so our plans were well justified. And of course, because Z is Polish it was wholly appropriate (and cost effective!) to go to Poland.
We had been looking forward to the trip so much, especially Z, who is proud of his homeland. And it would have been great to go to where Copernicus – or as we used to call him in school and titter every time we said it, ‘Copper Knickers’ – was from. The astronomer in many ways started the scientific revolution by proving that the Earth goes around the sun rather than the other way around, causing consternation, rebuke and denial. Still going on today when you look at people denying COVID-19. The fact that the Earth goes around the sun isn’t a political issue. Just like the wearing of masks isn’t either. Anyway, our trip is yet another COVID casualty.
It was S’s last day in the lab, so we had another farewell. Sad to see him go too – a talented immunologist with a bright future ahead of him. He will be starting his own lab in the University of Graz.
I also signed some last papers for Inflazome. I asked the solicitor who brought the papers to me what would happen, and he said well, nothing. You just don’t hear from them. I asked him to confirm to me at midnight that they had heard nothing.
Meanwhile, more messing with travel. Two countries added to the Green List, seven removed. This isn’t the way to do things.
As the clock struck midnight I waited for the message. And waited. And it didn’t come. Fell asleep.
Then at 9 a.m., while I was scrolling on my phone, I got a text message saying I owed Inflazome €145 and needed to transfer that quickly. Surely the whole deal wouldn’t collapse because I forgot to transfer €145? Or maybe I would not get my share? With trembling fingers I managed to do it from my phone. I then emailed to say I’d transferred the money, adding: Any update? The reply: Everything is going according to plan. You’ll hear from us this afternoon. I showered in a daze.
I met Cormac Kilty for lunch in 64 Wine in Glasthule. This was set up a couple of weeks back but was mind-blowingly appropriate. My whole journey into commercialising research started with Cormac. At least 18 years ago an old colleague, Dermot Kelleher, Cormac and myself went for dinner in the Guinea Pig restaurant in Dalkey to discuss setting up a new company around our research. Cormac had years of experience in biotech and was CEO of a company called Biotrin, which, of all things, at that time had a diagnostic for viral infections in dogs. He then became chair of the first company I was involved in, Opsona Therapeutics.
Over lunch I told Cormac the deal was in all likelihood done. First person to hear that. Then I got a text from Diarmuid O’Brien, TCD’s chief innovation officer, to congratulate me. How had he heard? Still no official word to me. And then in rapid succession two more texts came in. One from Manus: DEAL DONE! And then one from Matt saying that the transaction had been completed and that funds would transfer that afternoon or possibly Monday. Yesss!
En route to Galway for another COVID-19 session, this time as part of what might be called a poor man’s Electric Picnic. I’m taking part in a small approximation of MindField, the EP spoken-word stage, called ‘The Big Think’. The Metabollix would have played EP again this year. Bah!
Got the Dart to Connolly and then the Luas to Heuston. Played ‘Lily the Pink’ on repeat. On the Luas, I couldn’t contain myself and shed a few tears. They were of joy to have made it but also, I was thinking of all the patients who might benefit from our new medicines. The journey towards that just got faster, with a superb backer in the form of Roche.
I imagined I was in a bar somewhere with all the Inflazome team: Matt, Jeremy, Angus, David, Thomas, Ree, Sarah. And our investors: Manus, Marco, David, Bart. And we’re all banging the table to the beat of that song and smashing our glasses together. Except I’m on the Luas.
At Heuston my phone pinged. Jo from Inflazome had sent a video of ‘Celebration’ by Kool and the Gang, except she’s pasted the faces of Matt, Thomas and me over the singers. Got on the train to Galway in a complete daze.
I then began checking my bank account (Manus said to do that) and at exactly 4.12 p.m. the digits in my current account went into overdrive. I took a screen shot and then WhatsApp-ed Marg: You’d better sit down.
Manus texted: You did it! Whatever else is said, you can tell yourself that you did it! I texted back: Six diseases will fall to our sword. Easy to lose the run of yourself but hey, why not? And what if it’s true? What then?
Got to the hotel in Galway and went to my room. Strange feeling. Got a message to say that other speakers had cancelled as there is now a travel restriction in place again. Looks like I escaped Dublin on time. We had official letters stating we were on COVID business (public information) but still, some were reluctant to travel. I feel like a pioneer, boldly going and glad to be doing it. I had another moment of emotion. My mind is racing: what next?
SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
Today was good. Woke up and thought hmmm, the world has a different colour now. Went to Salthill for the event and met Maria, the organiser. They had rented the driving range in Salthill and put up lots of glamping tents and a bar. They were open each weekend and people could stay in the bubble of their tents, have a few drinks and get some food. In the middle of the field was a big circus tent with the sides up and a stage. It all looked brilliant. Maria is an events organiser, famous for the Galway Oyster Festival. She spoke about how events had been decimated, with lots of people out of work. This event has employed some people. She had to fight with Galway council but won in the end. So impressive. And a perfect example of that never-say-die spirit in people. You’ll never beat the Irish.
She brought me over to Will, who was the sound guy for the event. And what a wonderful fellow he is. He is from the UK and has worked in sound all his life, including at Glastonbury. He looks the image of Johnny Rotten. Told me he and all his crew hadn’t worked in months. He’s the same age as me and we had a few long chats about music. He reminisced about going to punk gigs in the ’70s and coming out drenched from being spat at. He told me all about his ideas for ‘green’ music festivals once this all ends. He put my mic on and then the event started. There were around 100 people there, under the big top, sides all open, sitting at tables, having a beer. It was very convivial. Lots of questions after. Had a couple of pints myself in the evening sun. Drinking in the evening sun – is there anything better?
A brass band came into the field and were brilliant. I listened to them for a while and then headed for the train. All in all a lovely day. It’s the perseverance and warmth and consideration of people like Maria and Will that keeps me going. Doing their best for everyone, all of us in this together. Unlike the nasty, negative trolls who are actually harming people, either directly when they attack someone, or indirectly by worrying people or perhaps discouraging them from being vaccinated.
SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER
Got back late last night. Cracked open a bottle with the family to celebrate. This morning had a rebound into the glums. We are strange creatures, us humans. We want something so badly. We get it. And then what? I love this exchange in Waiting for Godot:
Estragon: What am I to say?
Vladimir: Say, I am happy.
Estragon: I am happy.
Vladimir: So am I.
Estragon: So am I.
Vladimir: We are happy.
Estragon: We are happy. (Silence). What do we do now? Now that we are happy?
Stupidly, concerns come to mind. First-world problem for sure. Would this success demotivate me? Will the money change me and have a negative effect? Will it affect my sons? What about my friendships? On the other hand – wahey! One of my key life missions, to find new medicines, has been hugely enhanced. Get a grip, Luke.
But in the background, I’m worrying away. We’re now in Level 3 lockdown, which means all tourist places closed, no indoor gatherings of any kind, everyone in Dublin has to stay in the county, restaurants are takeaway only – all to stay in place until at least 9 October. It’s all about lowering the cases in this second spike. Looks like it happened because of people travelling back from Spain, where COVID-19 is widespread.
MONDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
Up at 7.20 a.m., as usual. The press release on the sale of Inflazome was issued this morning. Put Newstalk on and there it was in the business news: ‘Irish biotech sells for €380 million upfront plus significant development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. Founded by Matt Cooper, not of this parish, but also Luke O’Neill, who is of this parish, it’s one of the biggest – if not the biggest – sales of an Irish company this year.’
So it’s out in the open now. At last I can talk about it. This was a day full of congratulations. Pat mentioned it at the start of my usual slot, meaning I could point out that the sale means our drug will now go into six diseases, so it’s good news for patients too. Eimear the editor was in the studio in person today and said, ‘You’re rich! Watch out for all the young ones that will be coming after you!’ A lot of positivity through the day. The sale will benefit so many sectors in so many ways: my research, Trinity – and most of all, hopefully, the patients. And emails from patients began coming in too:
I just want to say a big thank you. I have ulcerative colitis and I’ve been on so many medicines and still not symptom-free. To know there are people like yourself who put so much time and energy into developing relief for people like me is just fantastic.
Thank you for the hope you bring to so many people diagnosed with life-altering diseases. Wishing you continued success as you move to the clinical trials stage.
Well done on your amazing work to place Inflazome’s technology on a great path for reaching the clinic and bringing therapeutic benefit to a wide variety of patients in need.
What strikes me is that with such a strong following wind we have to have hope that our drugs will work. Roche certainly believe in it. Everyone wants to block NLRP3. So even if our drug doesn’t make it for whatever reason, someone else’s might, and that would be just fine. That’s the way research works. What it all does is give hope to people with diseases, and that is so important too. It’s amazing to think that this all began when I had a chat with Matt in the bar at a conference back in 2012. Out of such chats, interesting things can come.
Will Goodbody came in from RTÉ and filmed in the lab. He had been here back in 2015 as science correspondent when Rebecca’s first paper on this was published in Nature Medicine, so a satisfying bit of symmetry there.
Despite all this excitement, COVID-19 is never far away, and I got another email: Please don’t get distracted working on Parkinson’s disease. You have to keep working on COVID-19! There ain’t no pleasin’ some people …
And then a second amazing thing happened – I went out to the Gill warehouse to sign 200 books, just in from the printers. The cover looks brill – same colours as the Sex Pistols album.
Came home tired but happy. Inflazome sale and seeing my book in print. I mean, what the fuck are the odds of that?
And the beat goes on. Irish Independent report on the sale of Inflazome. Off to the lab, where graduate student Alessia gave an excellent Zoom talk as part of the Marie Curie training network.
And then more news. It looks like the virus is roaring back. Hans Kluge of the WHO said, ‘we have a very serious situation unfolding before us’. He was talking about Europe. Weekly cases are as high as they were back in March. Clearly, far too much travel happened in August.
WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER
Recorded three lectures for the Trinity junior freshman biology course in the kitchen using the Panopto system. Stevie helped to make sure I was doing the right thing. My fear is that I start into the lecture, talk for 50 minutes and then realise I haven’t been recording at all. Luckily, this didn’t happen. It’s such an absolute bummer that I can’t give these in person. I’ve given the first biology lectures to the freshers for years now. Over 200 students, all eager for their first lectures in university. The human contact is key. How can you inspire students on Zoom?
My job is really to be like a Baptist minister advocating for biology. I try to get them interested, engage them and tell them what it’s going to be like in university. I say they can leave the lecture if they want to – lectures are optional because they are grownups now. I tell them there are only two grades worth getting: a first (which means they are really smart) or a third (which means they’ve had a damn good time). It’s tongue in cheek, but I think it’s important for them to get the idea that they are in a university now and that they can take this subject as far as they want. The point I’m trying to make is that the sky’s the limit. Something should happen in the lecture room that will get the student’s imagination going. Like live music, I guess.
Anyway, good to get the three lectures in the can. I covered ‘The Origin of Life’ followed by ‘The Chemistry of Life’. What could be better? Got lots of COVID references in, of course, as what else is there?
This strikes me as yet more evidence for how my days have such variety: a discussion with Roche on how our drug might help millions, lectures for 200 of our students in Trinity and then an interview with Spanish TV. I feel a bit like Phil Collins (woe betide!) when he played first at Live Aid in London, and then flew Concorde to play in the US in Philadelphia. ‘Funny old world, innit?’ is what he said. Poor old Phil is well vilified these days. I’ll bet he feels it coming in the air most nights.
There are studies correlating vitamin D deficiency with severe COVID-19. We know it’s needed for the immune system, so this makes sense. Needs to be tested further, though.
Recorded my first podcast! Jess, the producer, and I did The Science of Love. I really enjoyed it. Me talking for 15 minutes. Nobody talking at me.
Back to the lab. We recorded three little promo clips to plug the book. The book plugging begins (as opposed to butt plugging, which is something else entirely). Then to the podcast studio across the road to record another one with Stefanie Preissner. I am clearly entering the podcast world.
At 6 p.m. Mark Condron from The Independent came to take a special photo. He’s won lots of awards, so I feel honoured indeed. We projected an image of lungs and COVID-19 on a screen and I stood in front of it. I’ve realised how tough it is to take a really good photo, and this one was superb. You have to smile, but sometimes you’re tired and that must show in your eyes. Marg always says I look like I’m having a stroke in photographs.
FRIDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
Started the day giving a Zoom talk to the European Society for Clinical Microbiology about our COVID-19 work. Yet another conference that was meant to be in-person.
Z gave his last lab meeting. He’s helping Tristram with the itaconate and clotting project and we have initial evidence that it might! This could be really relevant to COVID-19, a disease that causes the blood to clot in your lungs. If itaconate could somehow stop that, it would be brilliant for all infections that feature clotting. Maybe itaconate would be a better anticoagulant than ones currently being tested? We drew up a plan for future experiments.
We had a socially distanced drink to say goodbye to Z. Another brilliant team member moving on. I’ll miss his wonderful sense of humour and in-vivo skills. Great man for the mice, old Z. Dear oh dear, I don’t like it when someone like Z leaves, but it’s the way of things.
SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER
Spent an hour or so today going through the lab ‘books’. Who is on what grant, who has left and who is joining. Running a lab is like running a small business. You have to keep the wages coming in. I think I have it sussed for now – enough grant money to cover people for the next two or three years. The job now is to deliver on the research ideas!
Nice sunny day so had a sit in the garden. Noticed a few green, finch-like birds flitting about, twittering. Funny how something that can cut through the worries sometimes, like when a familiar song suddenly comes on the radio. An opening in the mind of some sort, a clearing of the cares we have for a brief moment. Whatever it is, it’s great when it happens.
Protestors outside RTÉ last night for Tony Fauci’s appearance on The Late Late Show. He is being attacked by the far-right and associated people. It’s a disgrace. His family are also being threatened. And all he’s trying to do is his job – and save lives.
At least my family haven’t been threatened, although my sister Helen in England recently got some hate messages along the lines of You’re just as useless as that brother of yours who should shut up. It unnerved her a bit that they had tracked her down. She’s very active on social media, so maybe that’s how.
I’m still getting attacks but I’m managing them better. I’ve cracked Twitter – you only allow people who you follow to respond. And nasty emails are blocked. Such is life now. It’s to be expected. If you play rugby, you have to expect to be hit. One thing I didn’t see coming was how organised these attacks can be – concerted and mainly politically motivated. I’ve never been political really, so this is a disturbing aspect.
But I block it. I think Twitter is a hopeless place for debate. How can you debate things in a few sentences? And it allows people to be nasty. It’s easy to be nasty remotely. There’s a great quote in the Trainspotting 2 movie: ‘Choose Twitter to spew your bile across people you’ve never met.’
I also recently read that Claire Byrne stopped being active on Twitter when she realised that receiving personal criticism from strangers wasn’t particularly useful or healthy. But she is there anonymously. This is exactly the thing to do. Twitter should be mainly about information dissemination. That’s its superpower.
As a scientist I’m always debating with other scientists, but in a measured, moderate way. The great European scholar Erasmus said discussion should always be ‘temperate’, because ‘this way the truth, which is often lost amidst too much wrangling, may be more surely perceived’. Cicero said the same when he concluded that the truth is more likely when there is a ‘harmonious relationship between interlocutors’. Erasmus knew moderation was best in discussions because ‘No man is wise at all times, or is without his blind side.’ So true! Mind you, some scientists will still drop poison about you behind your back. They are human after all.
I somehow think quoting Erasmus or Cicero wouldn’t do much good for the people who attacked Tony. Their poster said: ‘Rally for Truth. Fake news HQ RTÉ. Tomorrow night, in an act of desperation by RTÉ, “Dr” Anthony Fauci will be on The Late Late Show to push the scamdemic and fool the Irish people, as he has Americans for months.’ The big question in any democracy is how to tolerate the intolerable while protecting freedom of speech. Not easy, and almost impossible on social media.
SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
Over to Brian’s place last night for a good old chat. Could finally tell all about Inflazome. I brought a nice bottle of port. We like port. We necked it in about 30 mins. Followed by a few light ales, as Withnail would say. A bit fragile this morning as a result.
Stevie left this morning for Cambridge. Sob! He drove his own car to the ferry in Dublin Port. Life is so strange at times. I was immediately reminded about how back in September 1985 I had left my dad in Bray to go to London to start my PhD. I went on the ferry from Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead. A well-worn route for millions of Irish. And here’s Stevie, 35 years on, heading to England on the ferry to start his PhD. A kind of symmetry, I guess. And those strange feelings yet again of someone leaving who you don’t want to leave, but you know has to.
I’ll bet there’s a single word or phrase for that in Irish – the Irish are great for single words that take several in English. Read a letter from Irish scholar Breandán Ó Cróinín in The Irish Times recently, which defined báisteach leatromach as meaning the kind of rain ‘meant for the guy beside you at a football match but deflected on to you by his golf umbrella’. I wonder is there an Irish word for the kind of sadness that comes upon you when your offspring leaves home. Surely a common event in Ireland over the centuries, so I’m part of a great Irish tradition. Whatever it is, I have it today.
MONDAY 28 SEPTEMBER
COVID-19 is raging in Manaus, Brazil, with cases and deaths soaring. This is what might happen in Ireland if the virus is let spread unmitigated. Pat and I spoke about how interferons could be a great therapy. People who get sick haven’t got enough of them. Children make lots. So trials are now running with an inhaled version.
Johnson & Johnson released information on their clinical trial of their one-shot vaccine – 60,000 people taking part. They got $1.5 billion from Operation Warpspeed. This would be a very convenient vaccine, as it can be stored in the fridge. Imagine if we get more than one vaccine, now wouldn’t that be wonderful? The Johnson & Johnson one might dominate the market because of convenience.
I then met our latest crop of final-year students who will come to our lab for their project. It used to last 12 weeks but now it’s down to four because of COVID-19. At least they’ll get some lab experience – so important for their training. We’ll do our best for them and stagger them in the lab, one at a time.
Finished the day giving a talk for the Grangegorman Histories Project. Ida Milne gave a fascinating account about the 1918 pandemic from a Dublin perspective. She is part of a WhatsApp group that many working on COVID-19 are in, including me – everyone from medics to scientists to historians and journalists. It’s really good and provides updates on many issues. Sometimes though, I’ve noticed that people on it get a bit nasty towards others. Ida hates that – she recently posted about how academics should always be moderate. She knows her Erasmus and she is dead right. Her perspective on the 1918 pandemic is useful from the point of view of COVID-19.
Worked into the wee small hours recording three more lectures for the junior sophister immunologists. I give them their first three lectures – an introduction to the science of immunology. Obviously, this topic has never been more relevant in all the years I’ve been teaching it! Immunology is the new … everything? Maybe virologists would have something to say about that.
One sentence will suffice when it comes to COVID-19 today. One million have died.
TUESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER
Gave a Zoom talk at another conference – the Royal Society for Immunotherapy. Very interesting session on possible new therapies for COVID-19. The steroid dexamethasone is clearly protective for around 20 per cent of people on ventilators. Not bad, but we need to do better.
WEDNESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER
An easier day today. Sometimes it’s good when the schedule is almost empty. Time to sit back in my chair and look out the window. And it was rainy today. That sweet September rain.
Another month. By God it was something else. The Inflazome sale. Held my new book in my hand. Stevie off to Cambridge – his life’s journey continues. But COVID-19 keeps burning. The storm is descending again. When will we get relief? When? And no obvious vaccine in sight.