This includes development of novel vaccine production strategies, such as expression in plants, with the aim of producing vaccines that do not need refrigeration, are easy to produce and can be taken orally rather injected. Another vaccine strategy is the development of virus-like particles, which can express proteins from a range of different viruses, are highly immunogenic and elicit both antibody and cellular immunity.
A strategy currently being tested in a Phase I clinical trial is the use of dendritic cell therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection. We are also testing the ability of novel adjuvants such as oxidised mannan, to help stimulate immune responses in patients treated for breast or ovarian cancer. Mannan is also being used as a mucosal adjuvant that can be taken intranasally to promote antibody responses at the mucosal surfaces such as lung and gut to overcome infection by organisms such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. In addition to virus-like particles we are also using synthetic polymeric nanoparticles that can delivery proteins efficiently to dendritic cells to activate killer cells as a vaccine strategy for cancer and infectious diseases.
Research Objectives
• Clearer understanding of the correlates of immune protection in infectious diseases
• Development of novel vaccine strategies to target specific immune responses
• Production of vaccines in plants
• Targeting dendritic cells with baculovirus vaccines expressing HCV proteins
• Clinical trials of dendritic cell immunotherapy
• Development of novel vaccine adjuvants
• New strategies for the development of avian influenza vaccines
• Novel DNA vaccines for cancer.