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
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
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.
Course Tutor
Associate Director, Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO)
Laura Merson joined ERGO and IDDO in 2015 to support new platform initiatives for emerging infections and neglected tropical diseases, including coordination of the Ebola Data Sharing Platform. This joint position integrates many of Laura’s research interests including exploring issues in sharing biomedical research data and in changing the paradigm of clinical research in outbreaks to enable rapid research response to emerging infections. As an executive member of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium (ISARIC), Laura has contributed to the development of standardized, open-access research protocols designed for outbreak response in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Before moving to Oxford, Laura spent more than six years building capacity in research design, implementation and ethics across Asia and Africa as Head of Clinical Trials for the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Viet Nam.
Course Tutor
Quality Assurance Manager, Clinical Bio-Manufacturing Facility, University of Oxford
Richard completed his degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Kent in 2006, which included an Industrial placement within the Biopharmaceutical Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery at GSK in Beckenham, Kent.
After a short-term role at the MHRA, Richard worked for three years at Lonza Biologics as a virus validation Study Director.
He then went on to complete a PhD in Biochemical Engineering at University College London, focusing on the downstream process of monoclonal antibodies with particular emphasis on Host Cell Protein characterisation and removal.
Richard joined the CBF in 2013, initially as its Quality Control Manager, and is now a Quality Assurance Manager and also training to become a Qualified Person (QP).
Course Tutor
Dr. Lee Smith’s experience spans biopharmaceutical CMC, process, analytical, formulation pre-clinical and clinical assay development as well as experience in product characterisation and regulatory submissions and interactions. He is regularly involved in applying QbD and advising on the use of DoE and data analysis for processes, formulation and assays, with a particular expertise in bioassays. This includes the development, optimisation and validation of both biopharmaceutical processes and methods.
Dr Martin Pech
Guest Speaker
Dr Simone Kardinahl
Guest Speaker
Prof Mainga Hamaluba
Guest Speaker
Course Tutor
Professor of Bioprocess Analysis, UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering
Daniel G. Bracewell has made major contributions to fundamentally understanding the recovery of biological products. Generating over £5.5 million in research funds including collaborations with Thailand, India and the USA. He has authored more than 90 peer reviewed journal articles in the area to date and currently supervises 15 doctoral and postdoctoral projects, many of these studies are in collaboration with industry. One such project was the basis from which the spinout Puridify (recently acquired by GE Healthcare) was created.
Course Tutor
Associate Professor and Deputy Academic Director, Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Oxford
Ly-Mee Yu has over 20 years of experience as a medical statistician and specifically in clinical trials for the past 12 years.
She has worked in a wide range of clinical areas and also a member of the Oxford Tropical Research Ethics Committee, as well as a member of Data and Safety Monitoring Committee, and Trial Steering Committee of several national and international trials.
Course Tutor
BRC Consultant in Paediatrics and Vaccinology, University of Oxford
Dr. Kelly is a BRC funded consultant in paediatrics and vaccinology. He divides his time between working in general paediatrics and paediatric infectious disease at the Children’s Hospital in Oxford and vaccine related research within the Oxford Vaccine Group.
His research interests are centred around vaccines and vaccine preventable disease in childhood and include the immunology of B-cell responses to vaccines in childhood, B-cell receptor genetics as a tool for understanding immune responses, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines and the epidemiology of invasive bacterial disease and pneumonia in Nepal.
Course Tutor
Chief Technical Officer, Oxford Biomedica
Dr Miskin joined Oxford Biomedica in 2000. He has more than 17 years experience in the GxP environment. In his current role, he has overall responsibility for Oxford Biomedica’s Quality systems, analytical testing, lentiviral based bioprocessing development and client programmes. He is also a named inventor on several patents in the field. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Leeds and subsequently conducted post-doctoral research at The Pirbright Institute for a number of years. He is an active member of the UK BioIndustry Association Manufacturing Advisory Committee and is the Advanced Therapies work stream lead for The Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership (MMIP).
Course Tutor
Senior Manager, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
Mark Doherty obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology (double major) in 1983 and in Microbiology with 1st class honours in 1986, both from Massey University in New Zealand, before completing a PhD in Immunobiology at the Auckland University School of Medicine in 1989.
Subsequently he worked at the DNAX research Institutes and the National Institutes of Health in the United States, and at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen. During this period, he also held adjunct professorships at the Gade Institute for International Health, at the University of Bergen in Norway and St. John’s School of Medicine in Bangalore, India. He has also been a Gates Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Aeras/NIH, and a WHO Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Sao Paulo in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In 2011, Prof. Doherty joined GSK, where he works today as a senior manager in the Above Brands/Vaccine Science team.Prof. Doherty’s expertise is in the development of the early immune response - particularly the interactions of T cells and antigen presenting cells that can influence the development of T cell helper subsets. In this area, his particular specialties have been immune cell crosstalk and cytokine biology. This work has focused strongly on practical applications of basic research, such as biosignatures of infection and disease, or adjuvant and vaccine design.
At GSK he provides support and expertise on issues such as adjuvant safety and development, maternal and risk-group vaccination and basic immunology that are relevant to multiple vaccines. He has particular interest in vaccination for older adults and vaccines as a tool for antimicrobial stewardship.
At GSK he continues to work with academic colleagues on ongoing clinical field studies, to publish in peer-reviewed journals, to work as an editor on various immunology journals, to work participate in WHO working groups, and to lecture and teach externally in immunology and vaccinology.
