Susan Lea
Co-Director, Institute for Vaccine Design, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
Speaker
Susan Lea is a Professor of Chemical Pathology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Co-Director of the Oxford Martin School Vaccine Design Institute, University of Oxford and a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. Professor Lea’s research interests focus on the molecular basis of host interactions with pathogens with respect to basic biology and translation into design of therapeutics.
Presentation Summary
Infectious disease causes twenty-five percent of deaths in the developed
world. There is an urgent call for a greater number of appropriate vaccines,
better distributed to the places they are needed. For some fatal infectious
diseases, no vaccines exist. Existing vaccines often require bulky,
refrigerated packaging with implications for transport costs and logistics that
limit successful distribution.
New technologies, new vaccine delivery systems and new infrastructure
are vital to achieve improved outcomes in child health in remote areas. To
achieve what is required, a diverse range of stakeholder communities needs to
be brought together to combine their expertise and efforts: engineers,
politicians, policy-makers, scientists, medics, economists and the communities
involved.
Delivering effective vaccines where they are needed is a small idea that
can have a considerable impact.
