Fourth round of laboratory exchange projects funded

16 Dec 2022

The International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN) is delighted to announce that 11 projects have been funded in the latest round of laboratory exchange awards.

The laboratory exchange scheme is one of two catalyst funding programmes run by the IVVN. Each award is worth up to £10,000, and the funds are intended to facilitate transfer of technological experience between laboratories in the Network or to allow specialised proof-of-concept work to take place. The funded amount covers travel, accommodation and laboratory consumables for the visiting researcher.

This is the fourth time the Network has held a call for laboratory exchange applications, and we were pleased to be able to fund more projects than in any previous round.

Visiting scientists from Brazil, Cameroon, India, Nepal, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda and the UK will undertake their projects in the New Year. The collaborations will address challenges in the development of veterinary vaccines against a range of important diseases of livestock and aquaculture.

Congratulations to all 11 visiting researchers and their 11 hosting researchers on their successful applications. The full list of funded projects is below.

Projects funded in this round

1 Vaccine development for circulating Flavobacterium columnare in Clarias gariepinus

Dr Alarape Selim Adewale (University of Ibadan, Nigeria) and Dr Kim Thompson (Moredun Research Institute, UK)

2 Development and pre-field trial of equine influenza virus vaccine derived from circulating strain in Nigeria using reverse genetics

Dr Clement Meseko (National Veterinary Research Institute, Nigeria) and Professor Janet Daly (University of Nottingham, UK)

3 Development of a Brachyspira pilosicoli recombinant B-cell chimera vaccine

Dr Supram Hosuru Subramanya (Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Nepal) and Professor Myron Christodoulides (University of Southampton, UK)

4 Training in fluorescence immunohistology for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of porcine germinal centres

Dr Selma Schmidt (The Pirbright Institute, UK) and Professor Mick Bailey (University of Bristol, UK)

5 Identification of vaccine and diagnostic targets in ruminant Mycoplasma pathogens using in silico and proteomic approaches

Dr Isaac Olorunshola (University of Ilorin, Nigeria) and Dr Tom McNeilly (Moredun Research Institute, UK)

6 Process development for recombinant porcine interferon as an effective treatment for African swine fever in Southeast Asia

Dr Benjamas Chutiwitoonchai (National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Thailand) and Professor Colin Robinson (University of Kent, UK)

7 Adjuvant associated changes in foot-and-mouth disease virus antigen presentation

Dr Daniel Santos Mansur (Universidade Federal de Santa, Brazil) and Dr Renata Fleith (The Pirbright Institute, UK)

8 Evaluation of protection elicited by foot-and-mouth disease quadrivalent vaccine: a field vaccination study in Uganda

Dr Susan Diana Kerfua (National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda) and Dr Donald King (The Pirbright Institute, UK)

9 Assessment of antibody-based mucosal immunity in tilapia vaccinated with a nanovaccine against Aeromonas hydrophila

Dr Sreeja Lakshmi (King Nandhivarman College of Arts and Science, India) and Dr Kim Thompson (Moredun Research Institute, UK)

10 IgG effector functions in a bovine model of onchocerciasis

Dr Glory Mbah (The University of Bamenda, Cameroon) and Professor Simon Graham (The Pirbright Institute, UK)

11 Assessing the impact of trypanosome infection on the immune memory recall to foot-and-mouth disease vaccine

Dr Obishakin Emmanuel National Veterinary Research Institute, Nigeria) and Professor Liam Morrison (The Roslin Institute, UK)