NEWS
Global consortium plans new type of coronavirus vaccine
An international consortium of researchers specialising in human challenge studies is embarking on a US$57 million project to develop advanced, virus-blocking coronavirus vaccines that could stop SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses from infecting people.
Led by Imperial College London and co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme and CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the consortium of more than a dozen scientific teams and organisations will begin by running trials to select particular viruses and identify the best conditions under which to safely induce infection in healthy volunteers. Researchers at multiple clinical research facilities will then use a selected virus to try to infect healthy volunteers who have received an experimental vaccine. Unlike traditional vaccines which are injected into muscle, these experimental vaccines will be inhaled into the lungs or sprayed in the nose and are designed to induce a type of protection known as mucosal immunity – which scientists believe could be the key to stopping onward transmission of coronaviruses. “Vaccines that can stop transmission of a virus, rather than only reducing the severity of the disease it causes, are crucial to being able to end pandemics and epidemics swiftly,” said Dr Richard Hatchett, CEPI’s Chief Executive Officer. “If we could find a way to induce virus- blocking mucosal immunity with the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, for example, we could then dramatically reduce the circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and hence limit its ability to generate dangerous new variants.” Human challenge studies are unique in their ability to investigate and understand the onset and development of disease in a safe and highly controlled environment. They enable scientists to observe and analyse complex interactions between viruses and the human immune system and to identify ways to disrupt and block viral infections.
The five-year Mucosal Immunity in human Coronavirus Challenge (MusiCC) project will be led by Imperial College London. Using harmonised standard operating procedures, the trials will take place across several sites in the UK, Europe, the United States and Singapore.
EDITOR’S COMMENT Working together
Welcome to the April issue of Pathology in Practice, and as I write the signs of Spring are bountiful – finally, after what seems like an even longer and distinctly wetter winter than usual. Spring brings with it the BSMT’s Annual Microbiology Conference of course, with the 39th iteration of this event previewed in this issue. Part two of our preview of the scientific programme can be found on page 19 (part one was in the February issue) and there’s also a preview of the event’s commercial partners immediately following. Due to a scheduling conflict at Hendon’s RAF Museum, this year’s event has been forced to relocate at short notice to a previous venue – the UKHSA site in nearby Colindale. Thankfully this was available on the same day, but the drawback is more limited exhibitor space, meaning only 12 – rather than 20 – trade partners can be present. Organising events such as this is hard enough without late changes, so Chair Mark Wilks and his BSMT committee deserve recognition for coping admirably with such a large spanner thrown into the works.
PiP has of course worked closely with the BSMT in previous years and is pleased to do so once again. In these post-pandemic years not all events are thriving, and those which offer value are deserving of support.
The value of such events is also demonstrated by the continuing presence in these pages of articles adapted from poster presentations from the 2023 IBMS Congress. Curated by Science Editor Brian Nation, this issue sees two such articles with the first looking at the use of a new near-patient test for Group A Streptococcus (GAS), which causes a range of major diseases and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The second examines the role of sickle solubility testing and molecular genotyping in the ongoing treatment of patients with sickle cell disease in Northern Ireland.
Also in this issue, Stephen MacDonald summarises some interesting highlights of the current understanding of analytical performance specifications, including setting measurement uncertainty limits. There’s also further insight from research firm Signify, with a look at some pioneering implementations of digital pathology around the world and some examples of good practice which could be used as an example in the UK as we advance along our own digital journey. A reminder to keep up to date between issues by visiting the Pathology in Practice website to subscribe to our weekly news emails, as well as joining our growing community on LinkedIn. Enjoy the issue!
andymyall@pathologyinpractice.com
BSMT announces change of venue for Annual Conference
The British Society For Microbial Technology (BSMT) has announced a change of venue for its Annual Microbiology Conference, which will now take place at UKHSA, Colindale. The date – 2 May – and programme of speakers remain unchanged.
Due to a clash of bookings the
Conference has been forced to relocate from the RAF Museum to the nearby UKHSA building – a venue for previous conferences. The UKHSA headquarters is at 61 Colindale Avenue, London, NW9 5EQ – just a short walk from the RAF Museum and the Colindale Tube station.
The UKHSA site offers only limited car parking, but the RAF Museum has generously agreed to provide limited
WWW.PATHOLOGYINPRACTICE.COM APRIL 2024
parking for BSMT delegates. Any delegates who require a car parking space at the venue should contact
reg.bsmt@
gmail.com. A further preview of the Conference’s scientific programme can be found on page 19.
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