Mucosal Infection and Immunity

The group’s research has been instrumental in elucidating the early mechanism of HIV transmission. This has led to the establishment of international collaborations aimed at preclinical identification, development and selection of microbicide and vaccine candidates prior to formal clinical efficacy trials.

The group also investigates respiratory infections, particularly in early life. Dr John Tregoning, Reader in Respiratory Infections, and his team focus on the causes of severe respiratory infection and explore mechanisms to prevent them.

Our research aims to develop and optimise innovative technology for the prevention of high consequence infectious diseases. Professor Shattock and his team have pioneered self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) technology, a novel low-dose vaccine platform. Once optimised and validated, saRNA vaccines could be rapidly manufactured and deployed for more efficient and cost-effective responses to future epidemics and pandemics.

The Shattock group are also leaders in HIV vaccine development. The EAVI2020 consortium, funded under Horizon 2020 by the EU, brought together leading HIV researchers from 22 public organisations and biotech companies from across Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA. EAVI2020 partners pooled their knowledge and expertise to develop 10 novel vaccine concepts that were taken through from bench to bedside. In addition to coordinating the programme, Prof Shattock’s group were directly responsible for performing a range of Experimental Medicine clinical trials using these promising new HIV candidates.

Our clinical trials program, led by Dr Katrina Pollock and Core Immunology Laboratory Manager Dr Hannah Cheeseman, conducts human clinical trials to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of novel vaccine candidates against pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, HIV and chlamydia. We recently performed the first human study on a lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated self-amplifying RNA vaccine against COVID-19, showing it was both safe and able to elicit some immune response.

Vaccine manufacturing systems have undergone evolutionary optimisation over the last 60 years, with occasional disruptions due to new technology (e.g. mammalian cell cultures replacing egg-based systems for seasonal influenza vaccine manufacture). Global vaccination programmes have been a great success but the production and distribution systems from vaccines still suffer from costs associated with producing and purifying vaccines and the need to store them between 2 and 8 °C. This can be a challenge in the rural parts of low and middle-income countries where 24 million children do not have access to appropriate vaccinations every year. An additional challenge is the need to rapidly respond to new threats, such as the Ebola and Zika viruses, that continue to emerge.
The Future Vaccines Manufacturing Research (FVMR) Hub has been developed with LMIC partners to deliver step changes in capability and performance of LMIC partners through a team-based approach that applies deep integration in two dimensions: between UK and LMIC partners to ensure that all the LMIC considerations are "baked in" from the start and between different disciplines accounting for the different expertise that will be required to meet the challenges.

The research programme benefits from a wide range of stakeholders including immunologists and public health specialists, life scientists, chemical and process engineers, chemists and formulation scientists, vaccine producers and, most importantly, populations in LMIC countries who will ultimately benefit from (a) reduced cost and increased availability of large scale vaccines and (b) rapid public health response to emerging threats.

To ensure this impact, the project has engaged several relevant partners, in particular, Hilleman Labs (India), MRC Ugandan Virus Research Institute, Dalian Hissen Bio-pharm, China, Incepta, Bangladesh, and VABIOTECH, Vietnam, as initial stakeholders, together with the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturing Network which represents 50 manufacturers in 17 countries. The program also includes the GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH, Italy) who have a track record for the development of vaccines for LMIC countries. Representatives from each of these collaborating organisations were not only closely involved in shaping and refining the programme but are working with the Hub as an integrated team with a view to maximising impact and ensuring large scale outcomes. The Hub researchers will work as advocates and practitioners of advanced vaccine manufacturing systems and will be at the forefront of innovations in this sector. A global and UK/RoI research network will be developed to complement the Hub and Spoke research programme and support community building.