Paul Talks Science

In this episode of Paul Talks Science , I explore South Africa’s cancer care crisis through the lens of the country’s first imPACT Review, an international assessment supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The episode builds on my newly published The Lancet Oncology news feature, “ South Africa’s first imPACT Review ”, which ex...

A medicine can exist and still not reach the patient who needs it. In this episode, Paul Adepoju speaks with Herb Riband, Executive Director of Access Accelerated, about why access to medicines often breaks down between the laboratory, the procurement system and the patient. They discuss the financing gap for non-communicable diseases, the limits of focusing only on lower prices, and why African c...

In this episode of Paul Talks Science , Paul Adepoju expands on his Lancet Microbe article, “ International response to hantavirus outbreak ,” with infectious disease expert Dr Neil Vora. The conversation goes beyond the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak to ask what this episode reveals about spillover risk, cruise ships as outbreak spaces, and why preventing viruses from jumping from animals to hum...

In this episode, Paul Adepoju speaks with infectious disease expert Dr Amesh Adalja about why the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak is exposing gaps the world should have closed long ago. While Ebola vaccines have transformed response to some outbreaks, most countermeasure development has focused on Ebola Zaire, leaving rarer but still deadly filoviruses such as Bundibugyo, Sudan and Marburg with fewer to...

On World Malaria Day, the spotlight turns once again to one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. This year, the story feels different. For decades, the malaria vaccine was seen as the breakthrough the world was waiting for. Now it’s here. So why does the fight against malaria still feel unfinished? In this episode, I speak with Photini Sinnis, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Sc...

What if some of the most persistent pollutants on Earth are already inside us? In this episode of Paul Talks Science , we explore the growing global concern around PFAS, widely known as forever chemicals —a group of man-made substances used in everyday products like non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, food packaging, and firefighting foams. These chemicals are called “forever” because they do...

In this episode of Paul Talks Science, we explore the hidden toll of conflict on cancer patients and health systems. I speak with Professor Mark Lawler, Co-Chair of the European Cancer Organisation’s Emergencies and Crises Network, about how wars and geopolitical crises disrupt access to life-saving treatments, from chemotherapy to radiotherapy, and why low- and middle-income countries are especia...

What happens when two galaxies collide? In this episode, science journalist Paul Adepoju speaks with astronomers Thato Manamela and Roger Deane about the discovery of one of the most distant and powerful cosmic lasers — a gigamaser — ever detected . Using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa , the team identified an extraordinary signal coming from a pair of merging galaxies more than eight...

In this episode of Paul Talks Science , Paul sits down with Dr. Jasmin Abdel Ghany to unpack groundbreaking new research showing that rising temperatures don’t just affect the planet — they affect who we are . A major study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that exposure to heat during pregnancy is linked to shifts in the sex ratio at birth. By analysing more tha...

What if the largest structures in the Universe aren’t just expanding — but spinning? In this episode, host Paul Adepoju explores one of the most intriguing recent developments in cosmology: evidence that a vast cosmic filament stretching tens of millions of light-years may be rotating. The conversation builds on Paul’s feature for Physics Magazine , originally developed as the winning pitch of the...

Antimicrobial resistance is often framed as a technical problem for scientists and policymakers. But the truth is far simpler — and far more unsettling: the choices made in clinics, pharmacies, farms, and homes every day are helping to decide whether life-saving medicines will still work in the future. In this episode, we unpack why AMR isn’t just a laboratory or hospital issue, but a shared socie...

Thank you for the journey in 2025, here is what will be the highlight of the new year 2026. Happy New Year.

Africa has the talent to power the world’s most advanced AI systems — so why is so much of that talent building elsewhere? In this episode, we sit down with a postdoctoral researcher at a US Department of Energy national laboratory working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing . He breaks down what supercomputers actually do, why they matter for science and...

What if the way we understand shape, space, and structure could help us see disease differently? In this episode of Paul Talks Science , I sit down with South African mathematician Dr. Cerene Rathilal to explore topology, a branch of mathematics that asks what stays the same even when things are stretched, twisted, or transformed, and why those ideas now matter far beyond the chalkboard. Cerene tr...

In this episode, we follow the journey of Hannah, a young Ghanaian researcher whose relationship with mathematics completely transformed once she discovered where the equations finally led. From early confusion in abstract university courses to finding clarity through disease modelling, Hannah shares the moments, mentors, and opportunities that reshaped her understanding of what math can do — and...

📌 Host: Paul Adepoju 👤 Guest: Prof. Moji Adeyeye – Director-General of NAFDAC (Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration & Control) In this episode of Paul Talks Science , I sit down with Prof. Moji Adeyeye to explore her remarkable journey from practicing pharmacist to academic, regulator and advocate, and how she’s helping transform Nigeria’s medicines landscape — especial...

Season 3 kicks off with Professor Richard Sullivan (King’s College London) on why cancer outcomes depend less on shiny tech and more on end-to-end systems that actually work. We dig into affordability, widening inequalities, and why “reality-stratified” care beats one-size-fits-all blueprints. Richard unpacks adaptive HTA and health-benefit packages, the limits of screening without treatment pathw...

In this episode of Paul Talks Science , Paul Adepoju sits down with Adam Aspinall, Senior Director of Access & Product Management at Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) . They discuss the science and strategy behind a groundbreaking new malaria drug for newborns and young children — the first of its kind. From how scientists reformulated existing treatments to meet the needs of infants, to the...

As people living with HIV live longer, a new challenge emerges: how do we adapt treatment for an ageing population? In this episode of Paul Talks Science , Paul Adepoju speaks with Dr Loice Achieng Ombajo of the Department of Clinical Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Nairobi, about research shaping the future of HIV care for older adults. Drawing on findings from two studies, Dr Omba...

In this special episode of Paul Talks Science —the first in a series recorded during my visit to the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell—I sit down with TURI Director Baskut Tuncak to unpack how economics is playing a pivotal role in driving safer chemical practices. We explore the Institute's origins, the real-world impact of the Toxics Use Reduction Ac...

In this episode, Paul spotlights Oxitec — the biotech company behind one of the most ambitious malaria control projects on the African continent. CEO Grey Frandsen joins Paul Talks Science to break down how Oxitec’s genetically modified mosquitoes are being deployed in Djibouti to target Anopheles stephensi , an invasive urban mosquito driving malaria resurgence in cities. They discuss how the tec...

What if the future of malaria control involves releasing more mosquitoes — not fewer? In this special feature episode, science journalist  Paul Adepoju  takes you deep into the high-stakes fight against a new urban malaria threat:  Anopheles stephensi . From the labs of British biotech firm  Oxitec  to the malaria-stricken streets of  Djibouti , and with insight from top global health experts like...

Mpox is surging again across parts of Africa — and this time, it seems like the world is paying even less attention. In this episode, I sit down with  Ifeanyi Omah , a Wellcome Trust Doctoral Researcher in Hosts, Pathogens, and Global Health at the University of Edinburgh, to unpack the science behind the current outbreak. We discuss the evolving mpox landscape, including what genomic data is tell...

In this episode of Paul Talks Science , I spoke with Prof. Hedvig Hricak, lead commissioner of The Lancet Oncology Commission on Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, to discuss a historic win for global health: the newly adopted resolution at the 78th World Health Assembly that prioritizes access to medical imaging across low- and middle-income countries. We talk about how this resolution came to...

In this episode of Paul Talks Science , Dr. Paul Adepoju sits down with Professor Christian Happi—molecular biologist, genomic trailblazer, and one of TIME ’s 100 most influential people. From his pioneering work on Ebola and COVID-19 to his vision for translating African genomic data into diagnostics and therapeutics, Prof. Happi shares insights on what it takes to build sustainable science ecosy...