Tove Fall: “Important to make use of the knowledge”

One of the individuals who stood at the forefront of the storm from Uppsala University is Tove Fall, Professor of Molecular Epidemiology at the Department of Medical Sciences. She is also one of the speakers at the Olof Rudbeck Day and has been part of designing this year’s programme.

Over three years after the first reports of a new virus emerging in Wuhan, China, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 is no longer classified as a global public health emergency. During this year’s Olof Rudbeck Day on 20 October, the subject will once again be addressed through lectures, discussions, and conversations with several participants who were prominently visible in various contexts during the pandemic’s most intense phase. Tove Fall, Professor of molecular epidemiology at Uppsala University, was one of them.

“The pandemic meant several years of living in a crisis, with many rapid decisions being made and, at the same time, a heated and ongoing public debate. Thanks to vaccines, COVID-19 has subsided, and the acute crisis has passed. Therefore, I believe now is a good time to document and discuss what we have truly learned from these years so that we can be better prepared next time. It’s important that we make use of the knowledge,” says Tove Fall.

Current theme following the Nobel Prize ceremony

The Olof Rudbeck Day is not the only occasion where the pandemic is revisited. On 2 October, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their pivotal discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines.

“Nobel Prizes are always exciting, but this year, I found it particularly thrilling. These are two very well-deserved laureates, and their discoveries led to the saving of millions of lives through the new type of vaccine, which was developed incredibly quickly. They are two very inspiring individuals who, by overcoming many obstacles, serve as role models for me when I encounter similar tough situations.”

During The Olof Rudbeck Day, several speakers will discuss various pandemic-related topics. Former national vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström and Gunilla Karlsson Hedestam, Professor at Karolinska Institutet, will give lectures related to the vaccines resulting from the Nobel laureates’ discoveries. Tove Fall will host the session titled “New ways to track virus transmission”.

“My lecture will focus on the importance of monitoring and tracking the spread of infections through various methods, alongside testing. This was a crucial aspect during the pandemic to implement and understand different recommendations. When people hear ‘surveillance,’ they often think about testing, but in reality, numerous complementary methods can be used: examining wastewater, symptom reporting, and data from 1177, for example. In short, I will talk about innovative methods for measuring the spread of infections,” says Tove Fall.

Intensive work on “CRUSH Covid”

It was also within this field that she became a key figure and frequently sought-after expert in the media during the pandemic. At the same time, she was a part of the Covid Symptom Study, which relied on self-reporting of symptoms in an app developed by the health company Zoe Global Ltd., with scientific analysis from King’s College in London. Together with Maria Gomez and Paul Franks from Lund University, Tove launched the app in Sweden in April 2020. Over two years later, more than 208,000 people in Sweden participated in the study.

Furthermore, she led the collaborative project CRUSH Covid locally in Uppsala, together with Mats Martinell from Region Uppsala. At the same time, Tove Fall became a frequently sought-after expert in media like SVT’s Aktuellt and wrote several opinion articles.

“You get used to it, but it was special. I had to think about both my own and the university's reputation, so I didn't want anything to go wrong or for the public to misunderstand the information I conveyed. I quickly realised that the more I prepared, the better it went.”

Highlighting important stories

With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, this year’s Olof Rudbeck Day will be a forum for retrospectives and reflections on the most important lessons learned from the global health crisis. Additionally, the perspectives of patients and healthcare personnel will be featured during the day.

“For me, as someone who has helped shape this year's programme, it’s particularly gratifying that so many have agreed to share their experiences and lessons learned. I’m looking forward to the part where a former patient, along with staff from the intensive care unit, will provide their perspectives from within the healthcare. How did they learn so quickly during the crisis, and what was it like from the patient’s perspective? It will be exciting to listen to.”

These are just a few ingredients of a packed day focused on learning and experience. There are plenty of such stories, and perhaps even more will emerge both during and after 20 October.

“For me, there are primarily two lessons that I carry with me. The first is that, despite a global crisis, we are a resilient society that can come together and solve an incredibly complex and tough situation. The second lesson is that it suddenly became possible, in such a short time, to develop vaccines that have since saved countless lives. When the virus emerged in early 2020, not many believed that the first people in nursing homes would be offered a functional vaccine by 27 December of the same year. It’s incredibly exciting to look back and see what was possible in less than a year,” says Tove Fall.

“Then, after The Olof Rudbeck Day, I might have a different answer regarding the most important lessons from the pandemic.”

Robin Widing