Burnet Institute Director and CEO, Professor Brendan Crabb has recently been appointed Chair of the US-based Vaccine Science Portfolio Advisory Council (VSPAC), a committee within the Program for Applied Technologies in Health-Malaria Vaccine Initiative (PATH-MVI).

Based in Washington DC, VSPAC oversees many of the world’s leading vaccine development efforts, from those at an early stage through to those in clinical trial.

Recently four of the world’s most eminent vaccinologists from academia and industry have joined the committee, which was set up to provide strategic input and advice on MVI’s scientific portfolio and overall research and development (R&D).

The VSPAC will meet once a year to ensure the most promising vaccine projects aimed at controlling and eradicating malaria move forward with input from international experts.

Professor Crabb said the committee represents the research, product development and public health communities, private and public sectors and six of the world’s continents.

“This is a particularly important time for VSPAC and for malaria vaccine community in general because the results of the largest-ever clinical trial of a malaria vaccine are beginning to emerge,” he said.

“Data from more than 10,000 infants and children is becoming available and the decisions that flow from this will have profound implications on whether the world sees its first malaria vaccine on the market in the near future.”

Institute Deputy Director Associate Professor David Anderson said Professor Crabb’s appointment as Chair of VSPAC is an excellent example of the Burnet’s leading role in addressing infectious diseases of global importance.

“And it is strongly aligned with our focus on practical outcomes that can have the most public health benefit – with vaccines being the ultimate public health weapon against infectious diseases and a major focus of the Burnet’s own research in malaria and other diseases,” Associate Professor Anderson said.

CLICK HERE to find out more about the VSPAC and its members