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Oxford Covid Jab Team ends century long malaria mystery

One of humanity’s most deadly and enduring public health challenges appears to have been cracked by scientists behind the Oxford coronavirus jab. A century after research into the disease ﬁrst began, trials have shown a vaccine produced by the Jenner Institute to be the most effective weapon ever developed against malaria. The disease kills a young child every minute, most of them in Africa. (Paywall)

Blueprint for new adenovirus-based vaccines within 100 days

Jenner researchers have published a pre-print on how new adenovirus-based vaccines could be produced at large-scale within 100 days of identification of a new virus or variant. They also report an improved manufacturing method which could enable production of 1 billion doses per month. The paper is being submitted to BioRxiv and a peer-reviewed journal, and is temporarily available here:

£50m funding for Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building at Oxford University

The Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building is to be established at Oxford University's Old Road Campus following a £50m funding commitment from Serum Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Serum Institute of India. The building will be a new home for the Jenner Institute. The donation will be the University’s largest ever gift for vaccines research.

Illustration showing how the Ebola virus looks under a microscope

Ebola vaccine to begin human trials

The University of Oxford have begun recruiting for a Phase I trial to test an Ebola vaccine in human volunteers – with the first vaccinations having already taken place.

£200,000 funding boost for Oxford’s Clinical BioManufacturing Facility

The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) has secured funding to support the University of Oxford’s Clinical BioManufacturing Facility (CBF) – a UK leader in the production of vaccines for early phase clinical trials, including the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Vaccine being extracted from vial with a syringe

Vaccine for treating cancer made possible using Oxford COVID vaccine technology

Research from Jenner Institute and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research has shown the technology behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has potential in treating cancer. When tested in mice, the cancer vaccine increased levels of anti-tumour T cells infiltrating tumours and improved efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Compared to immunotherapy alone, the combination with the vaccine showed a greater reduction in tumour size and improved survival of the mice.

Royal Society Africa Prize winner 2021

The Royal Society Africa Prize 2021 is awarded to Professor George Warimwe, Jenner Investigator, for his work on zoonoses vaccine development, capacity building in Africa, and his innovative research proposal. Professor Warimwe will be awarded a medal and a grant of £15,000 towards his research project at a symposium to be held at a future date.

One week left to apply for Vaccinology Training

In this open call TRANSVAC2 offers free advanced courses on Adjuvants and Vaccine Formulations, Statistics of vaccine evaluation, and Regulatory aspects of vaccine development. Apply until December 15th at www.transvac.org.

Vaccine for TB receives a $1.5 million funding boost

The Oxford-run VALIDATE Network, co-directed by Jenner Investigator Prof Helen McShane, has received $1.5 million in funding for its tuberculosis vaccine work from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. An effective vaccine for TB is one of the primary goals of the VALIDATE Network which aims to accelerate vaccine development for complex intracellular pathogens that are often neglected.

Vaccine vials being filled at a biomanufacturing facility

Making a billion doses of vaccine in 18 months: starting with two tablespoons

As the University was planning the first clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine, some began to wonder how to supply the vaccine to the world - if it worked. Although Oxford had the capacity to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, and clinical trials might take only a few months, manufacturing ‘at pandemic scale’ would take much longer. A group of University scientists had, however, worked on the problem for some time.

African trial of novel HIV vaccine candidate starts

Professor Tomas Hanke, Professor of Vaccine Immunology at the Jenner Institute, and lead researcher on the trial, said: ‘This highly rational, bioinformatics-assisted, vaccine design addresses the enormous variability of HIV-1 - one of the greatest challenges to the development of an effective vaccine against HIV/AIDS.’

Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert delivers BBC Dimbleby Lecture

Featuring notable speakers from business, science or politics since 1972, Prof. Gilbert delivered the 44th Richard Dimbleby Lecture, held this year at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government. Dame Sarah Gilbert is the Saïd Professor of Vaccinology, at the Jenner Institute & Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine. The lecture is available (in the UK) via the BBC iPlayer.

Phase I HIV vaccine trial completes volunteer recruitment in time for World AIDS Day

The Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials Partnership (GREAT) is pleased to announce the completion of recruitment of volunteers for the Phase I HIV-CORE 006 HIV vaccine clinical trial at four sites in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Enrolment of the final participants took place today at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Kenya, on World AIDS Day.

Vaccine vials in a manufacturing facility

Oxford vaccine reaches two billion dose milestone

University researchers reveal invention of simple manufacturing method which has enabled rapid scale up of vaccine manufacturing in 15 countries around the world, reaching people across seven continents. The approach provides a template for faster and more equitable supply of other vaccines.

T-cell ‘training grounds’ behind robust immune system response seen in adenovirus vaccines

Adenovirus vaccine vectors, such as the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 construct which has risen to prominence as a major vaccine for COVID-19, may generate robust long-term immune system responses, according to scientists from the Universities of Oxford and the Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen, Switzerland.

British science needs help to eradicate malaria

The response to Covid-19 has been a high-profile demonstration of Britain using its status as a science superpower for good. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been distributed in billions of doses around the world, saving huge numbers of lives and helping to pave the way out of this pandemic. Now, another innovation from the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, has the potential to save more lives: a new vaccine to tackle malaria, a disease that kills a child nearly every minute. (Paywall)

UPDATE ON COVID-19 VACCINE Trial

For all information and enquiries regarding the COVID-19 vaccine trial, please visit: https://covid19vaccinetrial.web.ox.ac.uk/.

SUPPORT OXFORD’S COVID-19 VACCINE RESEARCH

Funding for Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine research requires unprecedented speed, scope and ambition. Support from Government, corporations, trusts and foundations will be crucial to the development of a vaccine to combat the new virus. Alongside those traditional sources of funding, philanthropic donations of any size will have real and rapid impact, allowing us to accelerate this time-critical research, and ensure that Oxford’s vaccine solution will be as effective and swift as possible.

If you are interested in supporting this effort, please make a gift here.

Seminars

From livers to lungs: Optimising viral vectored vaccines for the induction of organ specific immunity

Monday, 06 June 2022, 11am to 12pm
Multidonor-class neutralizing antibody responses in HCV infection and vaccination

Monday, 20 June 2022, 2pm to 3pm

Latest publications

Incidence of chikungunya virus infections among Kenyan children with neurological disease, 2014-2018: A cohort study.
Journal article

Nyamwaya DK. et al, (2022), PLoS medicine, 19
Functional in-vitro evaluation of the non-specific effects of BCG vaccination in a randomised controlled clinical study.
Journal article

Wilkie M. et al, (2022), Scientific reports, 12

Health information

In light of the ongoing high rates of COVID-19 nationally, the continuation of the government’s ‘Plan B’ measures, and the latest guidance for higher education providers issued by the Department for Education, the University has agreed the following measures.

Health measures: Face coverings are essential for reducing the spread of COVID-19 and should be worn by all staff and students when moving around University buildings. Members of staff conducting teaching are not required to wear face coverings, to support education delivery. Social distancing is not formally required. However, staff and students are expected to respect each other’s space, using the experience of the last two years.

Working arrangements: Staff who are able to work from home are expected to continue doing so where possible. However, the University is fully open for teaching and research, and buildings remain open and should be accessible to all staff. As such, staff are expected to work on site to support in-person teaching, research and wider University operations where necessary.

Please refer to the University of Oxford Health page for updated health guidance.

Public Engagement

Tweets by The Jenner Institute

COVID-19 Response

Following the recent launch of the government’s Living with COVID-19 guidance, the University has decided that current health measures will remain in place until 26 March in order to avoid disruption during term time.

Protect one another from infection. There is still a high level of transmission of the virus, so the risk of infection remains high. COVID-19 can still pose a serious health threat to certain groups. Be considerate to them by continuing to follow the COVID-19 precautions.

Please continue to take the following actions until 26 March to minimise disruption to University life and academic studies this term:

Test twice a week and if you have symptoms. Remember to report all your LFD results to both the University’s Early Alert Service and the NHS. If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or have symptoms, stay at home and avoid contact with others.
Wear a face covering (unless exempt) when asked. Departments, as well as individual members of teaching staff, can continue to mandate face coverings in teaching and learning environments (unless individuals are exempt). Face coverings are strongly encouraged in libraries and should be worn when moving around University buildings.
Let fresh air in when indoors: keeping windows and doors open increases ventilation and significantly reduces the spread of COVID-19. Please keep them open, particularly in areas which are poorly ventilated or where signs indicate the need to do so.
Get your booster jab as soon as you’re eligible, and get a free flu jab if you can

Please refer to the University of Oxford Health page for updated health guidance.