VALIDATE: New international vaccine R&D network established
The UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC) has awarded funds to Prof Helen McShane (University of Oxford) and Associate Prof Helen Fletcher (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) to set up 'VALIDATE', an international network of researchers developing vaccines against globally significant diseases caused by complex intracellular pathogens.
VALIDATE’s initial focus is on tuberculosis (TB), leishmaniasis, melioidosis, and leprosy. Their vision is to accelerate vaccine R&D for these pathogens by creating an engaged and interactive community of researchers who will form new cross-pathogen, cross-continent, cross-species and cross-discipline collaborations, generating new ideas, taking advantage of synergies and quickly disseminating lessons learned across the Network.
They provide pump-priming grants of £20-50k for ground-breaking projects by members, with their first grant call open now. Read more here.
Source: TBVI
