Helen McShane

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.