Weekly round-up #118
Weekly round-up #118
Welcome to VALIDATE’s Weekly Round-up #118 - another collection of news and updates for our members.
Online Seminars
For those of you locked down and unable to attend talks and seminars led by leading vaccine researchers, we would highly recommended a seminar from earlier this year that we have just made available on VALIDATE's members' portal: The balance between health and immunity in people infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis from VALIDATE Network Manager Board member Prof Andrea Cooper. Andrea delivered this talk originally at the Jenner Institute, and has kindly agreed for us to share it with all VALIDATE members.
VALIDATE is now in 50 Countries!
Last week we launched our updated Collaborating Institutes page which includes a world map of VALIDATE members. Since then, Chikondi Charity Kandulu has joined us as an Affiliate Member from Wits University and the University of Malawi College of Medicine, making Malawi the 50th country in which VALIDATE is represented, which is an exciting milestone to reach. We would also like to welcome new Affiliate member Olusola Olawale Olaleye from the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research.
If you know any colleagues who would benefit from VALIDATE Membership, encourage them to join or ask them to email us - validate@ndm.ox.ac.uk.
BMJ Interview with Helen
Our Network Director has been busy again this time sitting down with the BMJ Leader for a chat about leadership in her various roles. It's a good read for anyone interested in the challanges of being in a leadership postion in vaccine research.
As you might expect, the pandemic has meant that there is not much in the way of newly advertised funding, however, the following deadlines are upcoming:
- BactiVac Catalyst Funding for Pump-Priming Projects - Pump-priming project funding from our sister GCRF Network, focusing on bacterial vaccine development, deadline 18 May 2020
- Academy of Medical Sciences Professorship Scheme - These awards offer flexible support to biomedical and healthcare researchers who have moved to the UK, during the initial years of their first full Professorship, deadline 21 May 2020
Training Opportunities and Events:
BSI Career Development webinars:
- Introduction to public engagement in the time of COVID-19, 19 May 2020
- Your wellbeing during the COVID-19 period, 2 June
You might also wish to have a look through VALIDATE's past seminars on our Panpoto portal.
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Principal Programme Officer - African Union, Ethiopia, deadline 21 May 2020
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Programme Officer, Country Support (multiple positions) - Gavi Alliance, Switzerland, deadline 29 May 2020
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TWAS-DFG Cooperation Visits Programme, 2020 - Postdoctoral researchers from sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, can go on a ‘Cooperation Visit’ lasting three months to an institute in Germany, deadline 18 May 2020
As ever, our jobs page will be updated regularly.
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Computational approaches in epitope design using DNA binding proteins as vaccine candidate in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, by VALIDATE Network Associate Sunita Verma, et al, in Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 11 May 2020.
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Live attenuated TB vaccines representing the three modern Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages reveal that the Euro–American genetic background confers optimal vaccine potential, Pérez I el al,in EBioMedicine, 5 May 2020
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Leishmania lipophosphoglycan components: A potent target for synthetic neoglycoproteins as a vaccine candidate for leishmaniasis, Mohammed ASA et al, in Carbohydrate Polymers, 1 June 2020
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Vaccines to Overcome Antibiotic Resistance: The Challenge of Burkholderia cenocepacia, Scoffone VC et al, in Trends in Microbiology, 4 April 2020
Highlights on Twitter this week
Bill Gates donates $10m to Australian trial of the BCG vaccine for immunity against COVID-19; the ONE Campaign has released a fun and interactive vaccinator quest game linked to their petition campaign, both to raise awareness of the field; an article in The Guardian stating that millions are predicted to develop tuberculosis as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown; advice from Nature Careers in trying to maintain your PhD motivation whilst working at home; Dr Liji Thomas talks about how COVID-19 could accelerate activation of dormant tuberculosis; Prof Stephen Gordon's opinion on the link between BCG and COVID-19; and NIHR's informative online video series, the Essential Guide to Grant Applications (EGGA), is available on YouTube.
@NetworkVALIDATE is a hub of information about VALIDATE, our members, and vaccine research for our focus pathogens - follow our feed to find out more.
Published: 13 May 2020
