
Dr
Michael
Francis
Dr
Michael
Francis
Managing Director
BioVacc Consulting Ltd
Biography
Michael Francis has over 45 years of experience in vaccine research and development and has published more than 125 scientific papers. He obtained his PhD in viral immunology from the University of Surrey, UK, and began his scientific career at the Wellcome Foundation Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Laboratories, where he conducted research on the immune response to FMD vaccination. He later joined Wellcome Biotechnology Ltd and investigated novel vaccines for both human and veterinary diseases, with a particular emphasis on peptide vaccines. Dr Francis then moved to Pitman-Moore and enjoyed a progressive career with Mallinckrodt Veterinary, Schering-Plough Animal Health, Intervet/Schering-Plough and MSD/Merck Animal Health. During this time he progressed to become Executive Director and Head of Research and Development within the UK, and took on responsibility for a broad range of veterinary vaccine projects against viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases, leading to the development of successful commercial vaccines for all major domesticated veterinary species (including three vaccines against animal coronaviruses). Michael is currently the Managing Director of a specialist vaccine consultancy, BioVacc Consulting Ltd. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and awarded an Honorary Associateship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, in recognition of his contribution to the field of vaccine development and animal wellbeing. In addition he is currently a member of the UK Vaccine Network, a collaborator on UKVN novel Nipah Virus Vaccine for pigs, a Member of UKRI Tackling Infections Stakeholder Forum , a Trustee of the Jenner Vaccine Foundation, a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board for REPRODIVAC Project; a Board member of the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN), and a former Chair of the Scientific Strategy Board for the Centre for Veterinary Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing (CVIM).
Research interests
Vaccine Development
Infectious Diseases
Discipline
Bio-manufacturing Challenge study design Clinical trials – efficacy Clinical trials – safety Commercialisation Deployment Formulation technology Immunology – B-cells Immunology – T-cells QC test development Quality assurance Registration Regulation Safety evaluation Virology Host species
Camels Cats Cattle Dogs Fish Horses Pigs Poultry Small ruminants Zoonoses Pathogen
Bacteria Bacteria›Brucella Bacteria›Clostridia Bacteria›E. coli Bacteria›Erysipelas Bacteria›Leptospira Bacteria›M. hyo Bacteria›Mycobacteria bovis Bacteria›Salmonella Bacteria›Yersinia Parasites Parasites›Eimeria Parasites›Nematodes Viruses Viruses›Adenovirus Viruses›Bovine viral diarrhoea Viruses›Calicivirus Viruses›Coronavirus Viruses›Feline leukaemia virus Viruses›Foot-and-mouth disease virus Viruses›Herpesvirus Viruses›Infectious bursal disease virus Viruses›Infectious pancreatic necrosis virus Viruses›Infectious salmon anaemia virus Viruses›Influenza virus Viruses›Mareks disease virus Viruses›Newcastle disease virus Viruses›Parainfluenza virus Viruses›Paramyxoviruses Viruses›Parvovirus Viruses›Porcine circovirus Viruses›Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus Viruses›Poxviruses Viruses›Rabies virus Viruses›Respiratory syncytial virus Viruses›Retroviruses Viruses›Rift Valley fever virus Viruses›Rotavirus Stage of vaccine development
Adjuvants Antigen discovery and immunogen design Clinical trials Commercialisation Correlates of protection – immunomonitoring Deployment Field trials Marketing Pre-clinical trials Vaccine delivery