Meet Chandrabali Datta, The Indian Scientist Part Of Oxford Research Team Finding COVID Vaccine

A Kolkata-based woman is at the forefront of finding a vaccine at Oxford University to cure the deadly novel coronavirus.

34-year-old Chandrabali Datta, who lives in Oxford, works as a quality assurance manager at the university facility and she is now part of a team that's trying to develop a vaccine the could potentially end the pandemic.

Source/TOI/Reuters

Jenner Institute is where Phase II and III of human trials of the vaccine named ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 are being conducted as a possible tool to fight the deadly virus.

Datta's role as a Quality Assurance Manager means it is her task to ensure all levels of compliance are met before the vaccine could progress to the trial stage.

According to TOI, Datta, who hails from Kolkata, went to Gokhale Memorial Girls School and completed her B.Tech in engineering and biotechnology from the Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata and then moved to the UK to study MSc-Bioscience at Leeds University.

¡°We are all hoping that it works in the next stage; the whole world is looking to this vaccine,¡± said Datta. ¡°It''s like a humanitarian cause to be a part of this project. We are a non-profit organisation, putting in extra hours every day just to make this vaccine successful so that human lives can be saved. It is a massive team effort and everyone has worked around the clock towards its success. I feel honoured to be a part of this project,¡± PTI quoted her as saying.

Datta told TOI, ¡°From what I have heard, we are planning to start mass manufacture at Serum Institute in Pune before the trial passes as soon as the trial passes, it can go to the market."

Covid-19: Kolkata woman in Oxford University vaccine project team. Leeds Alumna Ms. Chandrabali datta studied Masters in BioScience (Biotechnology) at the University Of Leeds : https://t.co/vda0rJpR14#UniversityofLeeds #Leeds #StudyUK #LinktoLeeds #StayHome #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/V3CZ95DI8X

¡ª University of Leeds South Asia (@LeedsSouthAsia) April 28, 2020

Datta explained to TOI that manufacturing a vaccine usually takes three to four years, but given the current state of affairs, their team has managed to do it in a few months. She added that they have approximately made 600 of the vaccine and says that a 1,000 more could be mass-produced. But they are now on the hunt for manufacturing facilities in the UK.

Reuters/Image For Representation

¡°We have never seen a pandemic like this in our lives. We used to read in history but never imagined that in the 21st century we will actually see such a pandemic which will mean we have to be locked in our houses for months. The main focus is to bring human life back to normal and to save lives,¡± she said.

¡°My parents were really worried and paranoid about me going in to work during this crisis. But I had to help my team. Everyone is under stress, given the pandemic, and we supported each other through this crisis period. Whenever someone was struggling, there were people around to help,¡± PTI quoted her as saying.

While she manages to stay in touch with family and friends back in India through regular WhatsApp calls, Datta is hoping she can be with her parents for her annual Christmas trip by the end of the year.

All Inputs: TOI/PTI