Vaccinology in Africa Master’s Level Courses

Participants and faculty at the 2017 'Vaccinology in Africa' Course, Entebbe, Uganda.

The previous Vaccinology in Africa course was held 29th April – 3rd May 2019, at the MRC Unit in Banjul, in The Gambia.

The next course will be advertised here as soon as dates and venue are confirmed.

These courses are specifically aimed at students, researchers and professionals resident in Africa and cover the main aspects of vaccinology, the vaccine development process, biomanufacturing, regulatory and ethical issues.

The course has an exceptional faculty of academic and industrial speakers, and resonates with the ‘One Health’ agenda by highlighting human and veterinary links and synergies between the two fields from scientific, technological and regulatory perspectives. Participants are selected on the basis of their direct involvement with vaccine development, and their excellence in professional and academic achievement. The course are fully funded for successful applicants and covers air travel within the African region, accommodation and meals.

The courses alternate between African regions and previous courses have been held at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra, Ghana (2013), at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya (2014), the Malaria Research and Training Centre & Centre d’Infectiologie Charles Mérieux in Bamako, Mali (2015) and the Makerere University/ UVRI Centre of Excellence in Infection and Immunity Research and Training in Entebbe, Uganda (2017).

2019 Course Programme

Day 1: Principles of Vaccinology

Introduction to Vaccinology
Vaccine Immunology
Veterinary vaccine development: some major needs
Poxvirus diseases of livestock
HPV vaccines
Polio immunization and eradication strategies today: successes and set backs
African swine fever vaccines
Developing a field trial site
Nutrition and vaccine responses

Day 2: Vaccine technologies & their development

Maternal immunisation
Vaccine technologies: Proteins, adjuvants, vectors and VLPs
Progress with pneumococcal vaccines
Foot and mouth disease vaccines
African swine fever vaccines
Non-specific effects of vaccines
How to value vaccines?
Immunomonitoring in endemic areas – tutorial session

Day 3: Major Vaccine Targets

HIV vaccines
Malaria vaccines
Tuberculosis vaccines
Progress with meningococcal vaccines
Vaccines for enteric pathogens
Influenza vaccines
Ebola, Lassa and outbreak pathogen vaccines
Workshop on vaccine design

Day 4: Vaccine Development and Clinical Trials

New vaccine vectors and VLPs
Rift Valley Fever and MERS vaccines
Vaccine manufacturing
Vaccine development in Africa: preclinical to field trials
Vaccination against East Coast Fever and CBPP
Dengue and Zika vaccines
Undertaking field trials of new vaccines
An industrial perspective on vaccine development, especially for neglected diseases
Laboratory and field site visit

Day 5: Vaccine Development in Developing Countries

Vaccine trial design and Controlled Human Malaria Infection studies in Africa
Yellow fever and other vaccine R&D at Institut Pasteur, Dakar
Livestock vaccines for Africa: a manufacturing perspective
Public health and vaccines: a WHO perspective
Statistical analysis of vaccine trials
Veterinary vaccine development at ILRI, Nairobi
Accelerating vaccine research in Africa
Practical, regulatory and ethical issues in vaccine development & deployment in African settings

Confirmed speakers:

Adrian Hill, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford

Allan Saul, GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health

Antoine Diatta, Institut Pasteur, Dakar

Andrew Pollard, Oxford Vaccine Group, University of Oxford

Andrew Prentice, MRC Unit The Gambia

Baptiste Dungu, MCI Santé Animale, Morocco

Beate Kampmann, MRC Unit The Gambia

Bryan Charleston, Pirbright Institute

Carla Cerami, MRC Unit The Gambia

Chris Netherton, Pirbright Institute

Ed Clark, MRC Unit The Gambia

Frédéric Tangy, Institut Pasteur, Paris

Helen Fletcher, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Jayne Sutherland, MRC Unit The Gambia

Mahamadou Thera, University of Bamako

Samuel Harrison, Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana

Sarah Gilbert, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford

Umberto d'Alessandro, MRC Unit The Gambia

Vish Nene, ILRI, Nairobi