Active Infection & Immunity Pregnancy, Children & Inherited Conditions

Thematic Support - Vaccines and Immunity

Funder MRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Source-published name: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Funding £2.5M
Period Mar 2022 — Mar 2027

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Vaccines are being tested in sub-Saharan Africa to protect babies, children, and pregnant women from infectious diseases. The research team works directly with local communities and health systems to ensure vaccines are safe, trusted, and delivered effectively. This matters because many vaccines developed elsewhere have not been rigorously tested in African populations, where immune systems, nutrition, and disease exposure differ. Without this evidence, vaccines may be less effective or face public mistrust. The programme also investigates how vaccines interact with the developing immune system of infants, and whether vaccinating during pregnancy can shield both mother and unborn child from diseases such as tetanus or influenza. If successful, the research could change how vaccines are rolled out across sub-Saharan Africa, reducing deaths from preventable infections. It could also improve tuberculosis diagnosis in adults and children, and help predict which patients will respond poorly to treatment, allowing earlier intervention to prevent long-term lung damage and community transmission. The work feeds directly into licensure decisions and public health policy, making vaccination programmes more effective and trusted.

View original technical description
In addition to clean water, vaccines are the most powerful interventions to prevent morbidity and mortality worldwide. The research carried out in our Theme supports the implementation of safe and effective vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa, so they can be used with confidence and their delivery optimised. We also want to understand the details of how vaccines interact with the developing immune system of babies and young children, and how we might be able to use them during pregnancy to protect both the mother and/or the unborn baby against certain infectious diseases. Our clinical trials are delivering the information that is needed for licensure and trust in vaccines, and we are working closely with communities, scientists in the laboratory and public health organisations to optimise the protection for all that can be achieved through vaccination. Our tuberculosis program looks at better ways to diagnose TB in adults and children and how we can possibly predict treatment responses in order to avoid long term poor outcomes from TB and prevent transmission in the community. In all we do we work closely with the public health systems in the country and communities to make sure our research is accepted and contributes to change for better health for all.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Beate Kampmann (Principal Investigator)Ed Clarke (Co-Investigator)Jayne Sutherland (Co-Investigator)Toyin Togun (Co-Investigator)Uduak Okomo (Co-Investigator)

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Original classification

Intramural

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.