Vaccinology in Africa – a five-day Master’s level course

The next ‘Vaccinology in Africa Master’s Level Course’ will take place 13-17 Oct 2014 at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya. The course is jointly organised by the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Fondation Mérieux, with financial support from the Jenner Vaccine Foundation, Fondation Mérieux, GlaxoSmithKline, and other funders.

The first ‘Vaccinology in Africa’ course was successfully conducted in Accra, Ghana, in September 2013, and received excellent feedback from the 30 course participants from the West African region, as well as from speakers and funders.

This year, 30 students from East Africa are expected to participate, with a faculty of around 15 international lecturers drawn from the Oxford Vaccinology Course and the Fondation Mérieux’s ADVAC course, as well as prominent African vaccine experts. The course will be covering the main aspects of vaccinology, the vaccine development process, biomanufacturing and well as regulatory and ethical issues.

The course is aimed exclusively at students, researchers and professionals currently resident in East Africa.

Delegate numbers will be limited to 30 participants.

How to apply

Participation is competitive and based on individual applications. 15 places are available for local residents of Kenya which will cover course fees, accommodation and meals during the course. A further 15 bursaries are available for those living further afield within the region of East Africa which will also include travel expenses.

An application form is attached and can also be downloaded from this link: http://www.jenner.ac.uk/vaccinology-in-africa

Applications should be sent to: jenner-applications [at] ndm [dot] ox [dot] ac [dot] uk

Application deadline is 1st June 2014.

Confirmed Speakers

Prof Dicky Akanmori, WHO Regional Office for Africa
Prof Brigitte Autran, INSERM
Dr Philip Bejon, Oxford/KEMRI
Prof Ogobara Doumbo, MRTC, Bamako
Dr Bryan Charleston, Pirbright
Dr Helen Fletcher, LSHTM
Prof Sarah Gilbert, Oxford
Prof Giuseppe del Giudice, Novartis, Siena
Prof Sir Brian Greenwood, LSHTM
Dr Karin Hardt, GSK
Prof Adrian Hill, Oxford
Prof David Lewis, Surrey
Prof Kevin Marsh, KEMRI
Prof Helen McShane, Oxford
Dr Vasee Moorthy, WHO
Dr Vish Nene, ILRI
Dr Bernhards Ogutu, KEMRI
Prof David Salisbury, Jenner Vaccine Foundation
Dr Geraldine Taylor, Pirbright

Preliminary Programme:

Day 1: Principles of Vaccinology

• Overview of human and veterinary vaccinology - A Hill
• Public health and vaccines: a WHO perspective - V Moorthy
• The vaccine development pathway – an industry perspective - K Hardt
• Vaccine immunology - H Fletcher
• Vaccines: needs and opportunities - D Akanmori
• Policy development and new vaccine introduction - D Salisbury

Day 2: Vaccine technologies & their development

• Vaccine immunogenicity & correlates of protection in clinical trials - A Hill
• Adjuvants for vaccines - K Hardt
• New technologies: vectored vaccines - A Hill
• Conjugate and other pneumococcal vaccines - B Greenwood
• Reverse vaccinology for meningococcal vaccines - G del Giudice
• Public and media perception of vaccines - D Salisbury
• Workshop on vaccine design - H Fletcher/G Taylor

Day 3: Major Vaccine Targets

• Malaria vaccines - A Hill
• Tuberculosis vaccine trials - H McShane
• Men-A conjugate: a vaccine for Africa - B Greenwood
• Vaccines for enteric pathogens - D Lewis
• Veterinary vaccine development: some major needs - B Charleston
• PPR and RSV vaccines - G Taylor
• Foot and mouth disease vaccines - B Charleston
• Immunomonitoring in endemic areas – tutorial session - H Fletcher/G Taylor

Day 4: Vaccine Development and Clinical Trials

• Phase I trials in the vaccine’s country of origin - B Autran
• Vaccine testing in semi-immune populations - O Doumbo
• Good Clinical Practice in African trials - B Ogutu
• Epidemiology and aspects of the design of vaccine field trials - P Bejon
• Safety considerations in the conduct of clinical trials of candidate vaccines - EB Imoukhuede
• QC and QA processes in vaccine trials - K Hardt
• HIV vaccine trials - B Autran
• Influenza vaccines - S Gilbert

Day 5: Vaccine Development in Developing Countries

• Vaccine manufacturing - S Gilbert
• Pre-clinical studies to Phase I clinical trials in developing countries - O Doumbo
• Veterinary vaccine development in African settings - V Nene
• Large scale intervention trials - K Marsh
• Statistical analysis of vaccine trials - P Bejon
• Regulatory and ethical issues in vaccine development & deployment in African settings - D Akanmori
• Large scale funding opportunities: EDCTP, Gates, Wellcome & others - D Akanmori