After earning her doctoral degree, Gilbert worked as a
postdoctoral researcher in industry at the
Brewing Industry Research Foundation before moving to the Leicester Biocentre. In 1990, Gilbert joined Delta Biotechnology, a
biopharmaceutical company that manufactured drugs in
Nottingham. In 1994, Gilbert returned to academia, joining the laboratory of
Adrian V. S. Hill. Her early research considered host–parasite interactions in
malaria. She became a University lecturer in 1999 and she was made a
Reader in
Vaccinology at the
University of Oxford in 2004. These viral vaccinations induce a
T cell response, which can be used against viral diseases, malaria and cancer. It makes use of one of the core proteins (
nucleoprotein and matrix protein 1) inside the
Influenza A virus, not the external proteins that exist on the outside coat. As the immune system weakens with age, conventional vaccinations are not effective for elderly. The universal flu vaccine does not need to be reformatted every year and stops people from needing a
seasonal flu vaccine. Her first clinical trials, which were in 2008, made use of the
Influenza A virus subtype H3N2, and included daily monitoring of the patient's symptoms. It was the first study that demonstrated that it was possible to stimulate T cells in response to a flu virus, and that this stimulation would protect people from getting the flu. The same vector was also used to create a vaccine against
Nipah which was effective in hamsters (but never proven in humans), in addition to a potential vaccine for
Rift Valley Fever that was protective in sheep, goats, and cattle (but not proven in humans). Gilbert has been involved with the development of a new vaccination to protect against
coronavirus since the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic. She leads the work on this vaccine candidate alongside
Andrew Pollard,
Teresa Lambe, Sandy Douglas,
Catherine Green and
Adrian Hill. As with her earlier work, the
COVID-19 vaccine makes use of an
adenoviral vector, which stimulates an immune response against the coronavirus spike protein. In April 2020, Gilbert was interviewed about the developments by
Andrew Marr on
BBC television. That same month, Gilbert was reported as saying that her candidate vaccine could be available by September 2020, if everything goes to plan with the clinical trial, which has received funding from sources such as the
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Gilbert delivered an update in September 2020 that the vaccine,
AZD1222, was being produced by
AstraZeneca while phase III trials were ongoing. Because of her vaccine research, Gilbert featured on
The Times' 'Science Power List' in May 2020. In 2021, Gilbert and Catherine Green published
Vaxxers: the inside story of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and the race against the virus. ==Recognition==