Keep Calm and Trust the Science: An Extraordinary Year in the Life of an Immunologist

A candid, behind-the-scenes look at a frontline immunologist navigating a dramatic year with science-driven steadiness, resilience, and public pressure.

Take a front row seat with Professor Luke O’Neill on a high-octane year. Luke has become one of the most well-known and trusted voices of Ireland’s COVID-19 pandemic. A world-renowned immunologist, he was thrust into the spotlight as we struggled to make sense of a crisis that saw the country grind to a halt. In these compelling diaries, Luke reveals what life was like behind the scenes as he endeavored to keep calm and trust that the science would save us.

Set against a national backdrop of banana-bread baking, TikTok dancing, and outdoor bingo, as well as the devastation to life and livelihood suffered by many, Luke’s lockdown diaries reveal the highs and lows of work at the cutting edge of science in his Trinity College lab along with how he coped personally with the pressures of public life.

Shot through with the natural positivity and humor that have made Luke a home-grown hero, Keep Calm and Trust the Science is an unputdownable account of one of the most dramatic years in Irish history from one of its key players.

Professor Luke O’Neill is a world-renowned immunologist and Professor of Biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin. He is the author of four bestselling books, the award-winning Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science, Humanology, Keep Calm and Trust the Science, and The Great Irish Science Book for children. Luke is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and is a Fellow of the Royal Society.