Course Tutor
Principal Investigator and Senior Scientist, The Pirbright Institute & The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh
Pip graduated from Sydney University with a degree in veterinary science. After a year in practice in North Yorkshire she moved to Edinburgh and did a PhD in veterinary pathology based at the Moredun Research Institute. Pip then studied herpesvirus replication at Cornell University, New York, under Professor Joel Baines, before being awarded a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship which allowed her to move to London to work on poxviruses with Professor Geoff Smith. Pip then spent in a year in Mongolia as a specialist veterinary advisor to the Mongolian government, based at the State Central Veterinary Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, before setting up her own research laboratory studying poxviruses at The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh. Her research investigates the interactions between poxviruses and their host cell. Since 2016 Pip has held a joint appointment between The Roslin Institute and The Pirbright Institute, where she leads the Large DNA Virus team.
Course Tutor
Director, The Pirbright Institute & Investigator, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Dr Charleston obtained a BVetMed from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, UK in 1982.
After a period of time in Large Animal Practice, studied for a Masters degree in Molecular Biology at University College London in 1988, then a PhD degree, as a Wellcome Trust Scholar, from the University of London, UK, in 1991. He then carried out postdoctoral research, as a Wellcome Trust Post-doctoral fellow, at the Royal Veterinary College and the Babraham Institute, Cambridge for three years.
He joined The Pirbright Institute (formerly the Institute for Animal Health) in 1994 and focused on studies of the immune response to viral infections in cattle. In addition, he has provided advice and expertise on the design of infectious disease challenge models for a wide range of pathogens in important agricultural species.
His research group is based at The Pirbright Institute in Surrey; the group’s efforts are focused on understanding the immune response to Foot-and–Mouth disease virus in cattle to develop novel vaccines.
Course Tutor
Senior Clinical Lecturer, Honorary Consultant in GUM/HIV, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Lucy Dorrell obtained a Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Southampton in 1988. After junior hospital posts during which she obtained MRCP, she began her research career in 1993 as a Clinical Research Fellow in Communicable Diseases and Genitourinary Medicine at Imperial College, London with Professor Jonathan Weber.
She was awarded a DM degree in 1998 from the University of Southampton for her research into antigen-presenting cell function in HIV infection. She was subsequently awarded an MRC Clinical Training Fellowship to study immunological mechanisms of resistance to HIV-1 and HIV-2 under Professor Sarah Rowland-Jones at MRC Laboratories, The Gambia and at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. In 2000 she was awarded an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship, which she took up in 2002 after completing clinical specialist training and obtaining a CCST in HIV/GUM.
With Professor Andrew McMichael she set up a programme of translational research evaluating therapeutic immunisation in HIV-1 infection with novel DNA and modified vaccinia virus Ankara-vectored HIV-1 vaccines developed at MRC Human Immunology Unit. She was awarded a HEFCE Clinical Senior Lectureship in 2007.
Her research team is conducting further clinical therapeutic vaccination studies while also investigating mechanisms which determine success or failure of host immune control of HIV.
Course Tutor
Group Head / PI, University of Oxford
I am an academic clinician and hold a Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellowship for Clinicians (i.e. Career Development fellowship). My main interests are the development of antibody-inducing vaccines against the sporozoite stage of malaria and the development of a novel thermostable rabies vaccine.
In earlier work, I identified the potential of PfRH5 as an antigen capable of inducing highly potent strain-transcending neutralising antibodies against the disease causing blood-stage of Plasmodium falciparum and demonstrated that PfRH5-based vaccines could achieve in vivo protection against a virulent P. falciparum challenge. These vaccines are now in clinical trials.
Course Tutor
Investigator, Blood-stage Malaria Group, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
My undergraduate degree was in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at Trinity College, Oxford University, and included research projects at the Institute for Hormone and Fertility Research in Hamburg, Germany, and at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford with Dr Chris Norbury. I subsequently joined Prof Adrian Hill’s research group in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University.
The subject of my DPhil thesis was the development of new antibody-inducing vectored vaccines against the blood-stage of malaria infection. I have since stayed on at the Jenner Institute, first as a Junior Research Fellow of Merton College, and subsequently as a MRC Career Development Fellow.
The aim of my work is to develop and translate new vaccine candidates for malaria into proof-of-concept human clinical studies. My group has a particular interest in optimising antibody induction by vectored vaccines, as well as better understanding vaccine-induced immunity to the blood- and mosquito-stages of malaria infection.
Course Tutor
Professor Ewer is senior immunologist for Oxford's Ebola and pre-erythrocytic malaria vaccine trials. She oversees the immunology on Phase I and II trials of vectored vaccines, both in the UK and in field trials in Africa.
She studies samples from clinical trial volunteers using various methods to determine the strength of their immune response to the trial vaccines, and to work out which features of the sample correspond to a stronger immune response. These findings can then be used to improve the vaccine development process, so that future vaccines offer greater protection against disease.
Course Tutor
Professor of Immunology, University of Oxford & Distinguished Immunology Professor, Kumamoto University, Japan
Tomáš's research aims to develop a universal HIV-1 vaccine, which targets most global virus variants including escape mutants. He explores novel vaccine modalities and optimizes their immunogenicity in heterelogous prime-boost regimens in mice and macaques. He co-ordinates a clinical program assessing candidate HIV vaccines in humans in UK, Europe and Africa.
Course Director
Director, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Principal areas of research: Malaria vaccines, vectored vaccine development, immunogenetics of infectious disease susceptibility
Adrian Hill trained in medicine at Trinity College Dublin and the University of Oxford, qualifying in 1982. He undertook a DPhil with Sir David Weatherall and John Clegg at the MRC Molecular Haematology unit on the molecular population genetics of thalassaemia in Pacific Islanders. Following further clinical posts in London he returned to the newly opened Institute of Molecular Medicine in 1988 to study genetic susceptibility to malaria as a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow. In 1995 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellowship and in 1996 the title of Professor of Human Genetics. He participated in the founding of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in 1994, and in 2003 co-founded the Oxford Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, which he now chairs. In 2004 he participated in the restructuring of the Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research and in 2005 was appointed director of the new Jenner Institute. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, of Magdalen College, Oxford, and of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences
Course Tutor
Senior Research Fellow, The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh
Prof Hope obtained a BSc (Hons) degree in Biological Sciences (Microbiology) from the University of Birmingham, UK in 1991, and a PhD degree from the University of Manchester, UK, in 1994. She then carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Manchester (1994-1996) and Kings College School of Medicine and Dentistry (1996-1997). Between 1997 and 2011 Dr Hope worked at the Institute for Animal Health carrying out research into bovine tuberculosis (TB) and immune mechanisms that lead to protective immunity. Dr Hope moved to The Roslin Institute in August 2011.
Course Tutor
Group Leader, The Pirbright Institute
Professor Munir Iqbal is Head of the Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) group at The Pirbright Institute and visiting professor at the Royal Veterinary College, London. Munir obtained Veterinary Medicine and MPhil degrees in Pakistan and a PhD in Biotechnology at Imperial College London in 1991. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool and the University of St Andrews, before joining the Institute in 1996. Currently, he is leading a number of research projects aimed to define the impact of AIV genetic changes on the ability of the virus to evade immune responses, cause increased disease severity and allow cross-species transmission. He is also leading the development of new multivalent vaccines and diagnostics for better control of avian respiratory viruses like avian influenza, Newcastle disease, avian adenovirus and avian metapneumoviruses.
Course Tutor
Professor of Vaccinology, Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Florian Krammer, PhD, graduated from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria) in 2010. He received his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Palese at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York working on hemagglutinin stalk-based immunity and universal influenza virus vaccines. In 2014 he became an independent principal investigator and is currently Mount Sinai Professor of Vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Dr. Krammer’s work focuses on understanding the mechanisms of interactions between antibodies and viral surface glycoproteins and on translating this work into novel, broadly protective vaccines and therapeutics. The main target is influenza virus but he is also working on coronaviruses, flaviviruses, hantaviruses, filoviruses and arenaviruses.
Course Tutor
Dr. César López-Camacho is currently a Senior Researcher at the Jenner Institute where he works on genetic-vaccine development for arthropod-borne pathogens, with a special interest in tick-borne pathogens.
He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and has held four postdoctoral positions in molecular biology, fidelity of gene expression, and vaccinology at UMASS Medical School-USA, University of Vermont College of Medicine-USA and the Jenner Institute at University of Oxford, respectively.
His contribution encompasses the development of a Zika virus vaccine, a Chikungunya virus vaccine and other vaccines for infectious agents (HPV, T. cruzi and malaria).
He is interested in antigen design and optimisation of antigen expression in vivo.
During the coronavirus pandemic, his scientific activity encompassed the design and protein production of SARS-CoV-2 antigens to be utilised as diagnostic tools, for coronavirus research applications and for the exploration of the immune responses in COVID-19 convalescent individuals.
In terms of intellectual property activities, he is an inventor and collaborator in vaccine-related patents and he is an author in more than 30 scientific publications related to vaccinology.
Course Tutor
Professor of Vaccinology, Wellcome Senior Fellow, PI, Head of TB vaccines group, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Principal areas of research: MVA85A Tuberculosis Vaccine (BCG booster vaccine).
Helen McShane obtained an intercalated BSc in 1988, and then a degree in medicine in 1991; both from the University of London. After junior hospital posts during which she obtained MRCP in 1994, she worked as a registrar in Infectious Diseases and HIV/GU medicine for 3 years. She then began a PhD with Adrian Hill in 1997, and was awarded a PhD in 2001, also from the University of London.
In 2001 she was awarded a Wellcome Clinician Scientist Fellowship to establish a translational programme of vaccine research evaluating new TB vaccines in the clinic. This fellowship also allowed her to complete her clinical training and she was awarded a CCST in HIV and GU Medicine in 2003.
In 2005, she was awarded a Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellowship, which she took up in 2006. Her research team continues with the programme of translational vaccinology, and is involved in developing new assays for monitoring vaccination induced cellular immune responses, developing a BCG challenge model in humans and the aerosol delivery of vaccines.
Course Tutor
Jenner Investigator, Vaccine Formulation and Adjuvants, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Dr. Milicic studied Molecular Biology and Physiology at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, before completing an MSc in Genetics and DPhil in Immunology at the University of Oxford, UK. In 2009 Dr. Milicic joined the Jenner Institute in Oxford as the Head of the Adjuvant Facility.
Dr. Milicic now leads the Vaccine Formulation Group, focusing on vaccine adjuvant development in the context of malaria vaccines, with a key emphasis on the adjuvant mechanism of action. Additionally, in collaboration with the Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBME), is developing new microfluidics-based vaccine encapsulation technologies for controlled vaccine release. The aim is to achieve single-dose immunisation that could replace the standard prime-boost approach.
Dr. Milicic’s overall interest is in the mechanisms of immune activation, in particular the interplay between the innate and the adaptive immunity. Vaccine development, with a focus on vaccine adjuvants, provides the ideal base for such studies. Current research includes exploring the mechanism of action of adjuvanted vaccines using different vaccine platforms and clinically-compatible adjuvants developed by the Vaccine Formulation Institute in Geneva. In another adjuvant-focused project, with the support from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, they are studying the initial events in adjuvant-induced inflammation ex vivo. Using adjuvant-stimulated human secondary lymphatic tissue, in combination with single cell transcriptomics and hyperplexed imaging, they aim to create a high-resolution map of the early innate immune responses to clinically relevant vaccine adjuvants.
Dr. Milicic is a Core Group member and Working Group leader in the EU COST Action Programme ENOVA (European Network of Vaccine Adjuvants), and is also the Jenner Institute lead for Public Engagement with Research.
Course Tutor
Principal Investigator, African Swine Fever Vaccinology, The Pirbright Institute
Chris Netherton runs the African Swine Fever Vaccinology group and has been investigating different aspects of the life cycle of African swine fever virus (ASFV) for over twenty years.
His studies on ASFV have encompassed analysis of individual viral proteins right through to herd transmission experiments. Chris’ earlier work on ASFV focussed on intracellular virus-host interactions with a strong emphasis on cell-biology.
Course Tutor
Director, Laboratory of Precision NanoMedicine, Tel Aviv University
Dan Peer is the director of the Laboratory of Precision NanoMedicine at Tel Aviv University. He is also the Vice President for Research and Development at Tel Aviv University. His lab works in the interface of basic and translational science. In addition, Prof. Peer is the Founder and Managing Director of the SPARK Tel Aviv, Center for Translational Medicine. Moreover, Prof. Peer is on the Scientific Advisory Board of numerous international companies and an invited keynote speaker in many conferences.
Prof. Peer’s work was among the first to demonstrate systemic delivery of RNA molecules using targeted nanocarriers to the immune system and he pioneered the use of RNA interference for drug discovery in immune cells. In addition, his lab was the first to show systemic ,cell- specific delivery of modified mRNA expressing therapeutic proteins that has enormous implications in cancer, inflammation and infectious diseases. Prof. Peer is one of the pioneers in the use of molecular medicines (gene silencing, gene expression and gene editing) for therapeutics and diseases management.
Julian Seago
Speaker
Course Tutor
Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Rachel obtained an MA in Biological Sciences (Wadham College) and a DPhil in Clinical Medicine (St Cross College) from the University of Oxford. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Jenner Institute and a Lecturer in Human Sciences at Wadham College. Rachel's research interests are the host immune response to tuberculosis vaccination and immune correlates of protection. Her DPhil focussed on the development of in vitro functional assays that may be applied in preclinical vaccine testing to reduce the number of animals used in challenge experiments, in line with the principles of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement of the use of animals in scientific procedures). Following this, she led the development of a non-human primate mycobacterial growth inhibition assay (MGIA), and a work-package subgroup on assay harmonisation as part of the European Research Infrastructures for Poverty Related Diseases (EURIPRED). Rachel currently holds a UKRI-funded VALIDATE Fellowship to characterise the humoral immune response to BCG vaccination to inform the design of improved TB vaccines.
Course Tutor
Group Head / PI, University of Oxford
I trained as a veterinary surgeon at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and completed a PhD in the epidemiology of childhood malaria in 2010. I later joined the Jenner Institute where, with support from Wellcome and other funders, I initiated a One Health vaccine programme in which vaccines against Rift Valley Fever and other zoonotic disease indications are co-developed for deployment in humans and the respective animal hosts of infection. Using this approach I have developed a novel chimpanzee adenovirus vectored Rift Valley Fever vaccine that is highly efficacious in multiple target livestock species. The vaccine is just about to enter human phase I clinical trials in the UK and East Africa, and will be evaluated in parallel livestock field trials in Kenya. I also co-lead a similar One Health vaccine project for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) aimed at developing a MERS vaccine for deployment in camels and humans.
More recently I have begun an arbovirus epidemiology programme at the Wellcome Programme in Kenya. My focus is on estimating long term transmission trends and case burden of flaviviruses (e.g. Dengue), alphaviruses (e.g. Chikungunya, Onyong'nyong') and bunyaviruses (e.g. Rift Valley Fever) in coastal Kenya, where recurrent outbreaks of these diseases are known to occur. These studies will inform target product profiles for candidate vaccines against these arboviral threats and underpin the design of clinical trials for vaccine efficacy estimation.
Course Tutor
Vaccine Developer
Mike is a BSc Biochemist and then completed his PhD in Immunology at the Royal London Hospital. Post-doctoral study at the Institute for Animal Health (IAH) focused in investigating CTL responses in horses infected with Equine Herpesvirus 1. This was then followed by working as a post-doctoral scientist at The Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research examining the immune activation of dendritic cells and their role in defining TH1/TH2 immune responses.
Mike then moved over into industry and spent seven years as Head of Research at Onyvax Ltd. This company was developing allogeneic whole cell vaccines for cancer. Mike’s team was involved in both pre-clinical proof of concept studies, and then the examination of samples from both Phase I and II clinical trials. He joined iQur Ltd in 2006 and his team helped develop a universal influenza vaccine based on a novel virus like particle vaccine platform. Mike is currently working as a freelance consultant.
