VALIDATE Annual Meeting 2023
7 - 8 March 2023, London UK
The 5th VALIDATE Annual Meeting was held on 7-8 March 2023 at the historic BMA House in London, UK. As always, our Annual Meeting gave our members the chance to hear talks from world-leading scientists in our research field and updates from our funded projects on their cutting-edge research.
2023 was the first in-person VALIDATE event since 2019 and it was fantastic to meet around 100 members of the VALIDATE Network from over 30 countries.
From the 6th to 8th March 2023, VALIDATE held it's first in-person events since 2019 at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London UK - A Workshop and our 5th Annual Meeting. In total, we welcomed around 100 members from over 30 countries to London who were joined by over 30 members online.
VALIDATE ECR Workshop - Showcasing Your Science
On March 6th VALIDATE hosted an in-person full-day interactive workshop, "Showcasing Your Science," aimed at equipping ECRs with the skills and confidence to communicate their research to a broad range of audiences. The workshop was led by Dr Sarah Hazel and Dr Kat Arney from First Create the Media, a communications consultancy specializing in life sciences and biology-technology convergence. The day was structured into four sessions, each comprising interactive activities that aimed to help members develop skills and build confidence in communicating their research.
Introduction - Building a Story: The opening session provided a quick refresh on constructing a compelling story and emphasized inclusivity in research communications. ECRs built a toolkit to support their communications, including a jargon-busting lexicon and a complex number cheat sheet.
Presentation Prep: This session covered how to prepare a memorable conference talk, including structuring content to hit the mark with the audience and using language to promote equality, diversity, and inclusivity. ECRs also prepared and delivered a 2-minute presentation on their research. In third session,
Making an Impression: Kat and Sarah provided tips and tricks for delivering top-notch presentations and building confidence. The session included practice in groups and feedback to hone the ECRs' stage presence.
The Grand Finale: For finale workshop session, ECRs delivered their presentations to a group of investors or at a flash conference as part of the "Presenting Den". Each table nominated a speaker to present to a particular target audience with each competing for a coveted prize, the final victor being Naomi Daniels of Otago University, New Zealand.
VALIDATE then hosted a well-earned evening meal at The Marquis Cornwallis Pub, a short 5-minute walk from the BMA.
VALIDATE 5th Annual Meeting 2023
The VALIDATE Annual Meeting was held on 7-8 March 2023 at BMA House. The meeting brought together around 100 researchers from around the world to share their latest vaccine research, present the results of their VALIDATE funded projects, and to get a chance to form collaborations.
Day One - 7 March 2023
The meeting started with a closed Network Management Board meeting from 9:00-10:00, whilst delegates registered and enjoyed a welcome tea, coffee and pastry in the Snow Room at BMA House.
Session 1 - Chaired by Prof Helen McShane
At 10:00am, Prof Helen McShane, VALIDATE Director from the University of Oxford, officially welcomed the attendees the the annual meeting followed by Samantha Vermaak, Co-Investigator & Executive Manager at VALIDATE who provided an update on VALIDATE's activities to date and our future plans.
Dr Nastassja Kriel from Stellenbosch University, South Africa delivered the first science based talk about her VALIDATE Fellowship project “Identifying persister Mycobacterium tuberculosis biosignatures”. We then heard from our first talks reporting on VALIDATE funded pump priming projects starting with Dr Ana Valencia Hernandez from James Cook University, Australia discussing “Evaluation of BCGΔBCG1419c::ESAT6-PE25SS in immunocompetent and immunocompromised mouse models of TB,” and Dr Diane Lee from the University of Surrey, UK on “Alvacc: A human in vitro alveolus model to study aerogenic TB vaccine binding and translocation.”
Session 2 - Chaired by Prof Mitali Chaterjee
After lunch, Dr Trung Trinh Thanh from Vietnam National University gave the first Keynote address on “A step forward to establish a national research network for surveillance of melioidosis in Vietnam.” This was followed by presentations from Prof Jayne Hope from the University of Edinburgh, UK on “Investigating the BCG-induced Natural Killer (NK) cell response in cattle and humans,” and Dr Gabriele Pollara from University College London, UK on “T cell receptor sequencing to identify correlates of protection in human tuberculosis vaccine studies.”Prof Chiranjay Mukhopadhyay from Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India discussed his team’s work on “Characterising the cellular immunity and metabolic response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Burkholderia pseudomallei in Indian patients for vaccine design”.
Session 3 - Chaired by Dr Maria Adelaida Gomez
After another break, Dr Munyaradzi Musvosvi from the University of Cape Town, South Africa discussed “Towards a T cell subset that can control Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection” and Associate Professor Hao Li from China Agricultural University rounded off the day’s science presentations with “Isolation of protective monoclonal antibodies recognising BCG and development of novel fusion protein vaccines against tuberculosis”.
The Collaboration Clinic
Sam Vermaak then returned to the stage to host the Collaboration Clinic, where delegates assigned to groups with the idea of building new collaborations.
SAM CAN YOU FLESH THIS OUT
Poster Session and Gala Dinner
After the activities in the Great Hall concluded, delegates were welcomed to the Snow Room at BMA house for the poster presentation session, where 27 members had printed and displayed some of their cutting edge research contributing to vaccines for TB, leishmaniasis, melioidosis and leprosy.
Delegates could then relax and enjoy some excellent food at the Annual Meeting Gala.
Day Two - 8 March 2023
Session 4 - Chaired by Prof Bernardo Villarreal-Ramos
After welcoming delegates back for Day Two with a tea or coffee, Dr Caryn Fenner and Prof Petro Terblanche from Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines in South Africa who gave their Keynote talk on “mRNA Vaccine Innovation Platform: An Open Science Model Enabling LMICs to Build Capabilities for Pandemic Preparedness and Regional Vaccine Production”. The keynote talk was followed by a presentation from Dr Cristian Segura Cerda, from CIATEJ, Mexico who talked about his VALIDATE Fellowship project “Evaluation of the efficacy of BCGΔBCG1419c vaccination plus a booster of EsxG/EsxH-derived peptides to prevent tuberculosis progression caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains prevalent in Latin America”.
Session 5 - Chaired by Prof Andrea Cooper
After a break Associate Professor Rachel Tanner from the University of Oxford discussed her VALIDATE Fellowship research “Characterising the BCG-induced antibody response to inform the design of improved vaccines against M.tuberculosis, M.leprae and M.bovis,” and Dr Laura Sibley from the UK Health Security Agency, UK on “Characterising the cytokines associated with trained innate immunity in BCG vaccinated non-human primates.”
Session 6 - Chaired by Dr Nastassja Kriel
After lunch, pump priming presentations continued with Dr Simon Waddell who presented his project "Innovative tools to measure mycobacterial antigen expression in tissue," followed by Dr Andy Tran discussed "Testing a novel, self-adjuvanting mucosal vaccine candidate for TB in the mouse model of infection." Dr Godwin Kwayke-Nuako then discussed "Modelling the impact of a transmission blocking vaccine against leishmaniasis on sand fly vectorial capacity,"
Session 7 - Chaired by Prof Samantha Sampson
Dr Paula Niewold shared her research on "Towards a better TB vaccine: understanding improved local immune control by mucosal BCG vaccination." The final Keynote address was delivered by Dr Maria Elena Bottazzi, who spoke about "Academic Creativity, Strategic Alliances and Diplomacy to Catalyze the Vaccine Sciences in Tropical Medicine."
The Award for Best Talk and Best Poster
The VALIDATE NMB and SAB awarded the Best Poster Award to Jacent Nassuuna and Best Talk to Munyaradzi Musvosvi.
The Feedback and Annual Meeting 2024
The response from both the ECR Woorkshop and the 5th Annual Meeting was overwhelmingly positive. People were impressed by the diverse range of speakers and topics, enjoyed the collaboration workshop and were very impressed by BMA House as a venue. The VALIDATE Team is already working hard to ensure that Annual Meeting 2024 is even better!
Along with keynote talks, research presentations by VALIDATE-funded projects, and time for networking, we we held a Poster Session at the Annual Meeting, so that more VALIDATE members can publicise their research.
You can find a full list of presenters, and their titles and abstracts, below:
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Ecological Niche Modeling and clinico-epidemiological distribution of cutaneous leishmaniasis among inhabitants of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan (abstract)
University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Immune modulation of autophagy represents a promising strategy for host-directed therapy against mycobacteria (abstract)
Institute of Experimental Medicine (IMEX), CONICET-National Academy of Medicine, Argentina
Rewiring of Macrophage Metabolism By Lipid Mediators Derived From Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Its Impact on The Control Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection (abstract)
Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Nepal
Nepal: An urgent need to generate evidence through global collaboration (abstract)
National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), Argentina
Comparative transcriptomic profiles of bovine differentiated macrophages and autologous lymphocytes co-cultures infected with two M. bovis isolates of opposite virulence phenotypes reveals a differential upregulation of type I IFN pathway genes (abstract)
University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, USA
Development of Scalable Processes to Facilitate GMP‐Compliant Production of a Melioidosis Subunit Vaccine Candidate (abstract)
University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, USA
Optimization of Serological Assays for the Analysis of Antigen-Specific Antibody Responses in Melioidosis Patients (abstract)
University of Otago, New Zealand
Investigating the evasion of BCG-mediated trained innate immune responses by Beijing-Mtb (abstract)
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India
Genomic and biochemical characterization of ‘novel’ Burkholderia pseudomallei clinical isolates from Melioidosis and Neuromelioidosis patients from Southern India and their virulome and phylogenomic profiling (abstract)
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Biomimetic nanoparticle-based host-directed therapy for the eradication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (abstract)
Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisia
Activation of the Host FOXO3 during BCG vaccination confers higher protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (abstract)
University of Delhi South Campus, India
Adjuvants for vaccine: receptor ligand based molecular interaction to discover adjuvants for human toll like receptors (abstract)
University of Oxford, UK
Developing a Controlled Human Infection Model with Intradermal or Aerosol BCG as a Surrogate for M. tb Infection (abstract)
ICMR - National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, India
Impact Of Recent Covid-19 Infection on Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Formed During Tuberculosis (abstract)
Haramaya University, Ethiopia
Prevalence, Risk Factors and Public Health Importance of Bovine Tuberculosis in Eastern Ethiopia (abstract)
University of Reading, UK
The ESX-1 secretion-associated protein EspA may mediate liquid-liquid phase separation (abstract)
Banaras Hindu University India, India
Distinct CD4 + T Cells Immunological Signature in Patients with Post Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (abstract)
Ms Millicent Naa Koshie Lamptey
Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Ghana
Plasma cytokine levels characterize disease pathogenesis and treatment response in tuberculosis patients (abstract)
University of Birmingham, UK
Integration of comprehensive tuberculosis clinical data, functional ex vivo mycobacterial growth inhibition assays and mass cytometry data to understand the reciprocal impact of M.tb and Covid-1 (abstract)
Bayero University, Nigeria
An Assessment Of Percentage and Absolute Cd4 Lymphocytes Levels and Factors Influencing Their Levels in Tuberculosis Patients Receiving Treatment n Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, Nigeria (abstract)
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Ferrocenyl-sulfonamide Derivatives as Anti-mycobacterial Agents (abstract)
Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Network-based analysis reveals a plasma protein signature associated with active Tuberculosis (abstract)
Professor Tufária Nazimo Ibrahimo Mussá
Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique
Diabetes Mellitus and cytokine profile in new Tuberculosis subjects with or without HIV in Maputo-south Mozambique (abstract)
Medical Research Council The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Gambia
Analysis of the impact of monocytes differentiation on Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infection (abstract)
MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Uganda
Effect of Intensive Treatment For Schistosomiasis, and of The Rural-Urban Environment, on Vaccine-Specific Immune Responses in Ugandan Adolescents (abstract)
MRC Unit the Gambia, Gambia
The role of macrophage differentiation on Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex lineages response to Tyrosine kinase inhibitors. (abstract)
UK Health Security Agency, UK
Characterisation of the infant immune system and the influence and immunogenicity of BCG vaccination in infant and adult rhesus macaques (abstract)
University of the Punjab, Pakistan
Balance between Protection and Pathogenic Response to Aerosol Challenge with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in Mice Vaccinated with TriFu64, a Fusion Consisting of Three Mtb Antigens (abstract)
Central University of Rajasthan, India
Mycobacterium tuberculosis Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase B as Vaccine Candidate against Tuberculosis (abstract)
MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda
A randomised clinical trial investigating the effect of BCG revaccination on the response to unrelated vaccines in Ugandan adolescents (abstract)
The BMA's Memorial fountain built in honour of the medical men and women of the Commonwealth who gave their lives in the Second World War. The fountain is guarded by Greek style statues representing Sacrifice, Cure, Prevention and Aspiration.
The 5th VALIDATE Annual Meeting took place at BMA House, a stunning, Grade II listed building that is home to the British Medical Association. You can find out more about BMA House and take a virtual tour on the BMA House Website.
ECR Workshop - 6 March 2023
1000 - 17:00 Kat Arney & Sarah Hazell, First Create the Media
ECR Communications Workshop
Day One - 7 March 2023 - In The Grand Hall - All delegates
0900 - 1000 Closed Network Management Board Meeting
0915 - 1000 Registration and tea/coffee
1000 - 1010 Prof Helen McShane
VALIDATE Director, University of Oxford
Welcome
1010 - 1040 Mrs Samantha Vermaak
VALIDATE Network Manager, University of Oxford
An update on VALIDATE at the end of our second year
1040 - 1100 VALIDATE Fellow
VALIDATE Fellowship Project Updates
1100 - 1200 3x Pump Priming Grant Recipients
Project updates
1200 - 1300 Lunch
1300 - 1400 Speaker TBC
Keynote Address 1
1400 - 1420 3x Pump Priming Grant Recipients
Project updates
1500 -1530 Break
1530 - 1610 2x Pump Priming Grant Recipients
Project updates
1610 - 1700 Mrs Samantha Vermaak
VALIDATE Collaboration Clinic
1700 - 1830 Evening break and freshen up
1830 - 2100 The VALIDATE Team
Gala Dinner
Day One - 8 March 2023
0930 - 1030 Keynote Talk 2 Speaker TBC
1030 - 1110 x2 VALIDATE Fellowship Updates
VALIDATE Fellow updates
1110 - 1120 Tea Break
1120 - 1210 2x Pump Priming Grant Recipients
Project updates
1210 - 1310 Lunch
1310 - 1410 3x Pump Priming Grant Recipients
Project updates
1410 - 1420 Tea Beak
1420 - 1520 Keynote Talk 3 Speaker TBC
1520 - 1600 2x Pump Priming Grant Recipients
Project updates
1600 - 1610 Prof Samantha Sampson / Helen McShane
Wrap up
1610 End of Meeting
