Vaccine+Biosciences

=**Vaccine Biosciences**=

The Vaccine Biosciences program hosts ILRI's Vaccine Platform (ILVAC) and is dedicated to developing vaccine-based solutions to reduce disease burdens that limit livestock productivity in smallholder and pastoral farming systems among others.

Projects within the group focus on vaccines against a limited set of high priority diseases in the pig and cattle LaF value chains namely, African swine fever (ASF), contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and East Coast fever (ECF). Generic skill sets within the group allows the ability to tackle other disease constraints as they are identified. A project on Rift Valley fever (RVF) contributes to the CRP on Nutrition and Health.


 * Key Contact Details**

Vish Nene - Program Leader

=Team members=

Joerg Jores Roger Pelle Lucilla Steinaa Jan Naessens Richard Bishop Elise Schieck Anne Liljander || Nicholas Svitek Paul Ssajjakambwe Racheal Aye Nimmo Gicheru Edward Okoth Cecilia Muriuki John Wasilwa Elias Awino || Rosemary Saya Joseph Gesharisha Thomas Njoroge Jerome Wendoh Martin Kiogora Charity Muthoni Muriuki Sarah Nyongesa || =Projects=
 * Vish Nene
 * Providing proof of concept for the development of an inactivated vaccine for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP)
 * Enhanced control of CBPP in Sub Saharan Africa through development of better diagnostics and vaccines
 * PostDoc Project "Accelerating CBPP research towards a better vaccine through the application of synthetic biology"
 * Toward development of a vaccine for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP)
 * Development of a Vaccine for Eradicating Contagious Bovine Pleuro Pneumonia in Africa
 * Characterization of T.parva specific cytotoxic T cells
 * BREAD: A modern approach towards developing vaccines for critical bovine diseases impacting smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
 * Collaboration to advance vaccine control of East Coast Fever (Theileria parva)
 * International cooperation in animal diseases
 * Development of effective rift valley fever vaccines for use in sheep and humans

=Events= = = =Meetings= = = =Training=
 * Prof Douglas Weibel and his graduate Student Julia Nepper from the University of Wisconsin will visit the ILRI from the 5th August. Prof Weibel will stay until the 14th August while Julia will stay until 31st August. They will both work with the research group of Joerg Jores in order to develop next generation DNA-based prototype detection devices for livestock diseases and develop a proposal to develop novel diagnostic assays for camels.
 * Job interviews have taken place in the month of July for four new positions in the ECF group, one scientist position, one post.doc position and two technical positions.
 * Vaccines Biosciences Mid-Term Review Meeting, 2 July 2013, ILRI Nairobi
 * Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) workshop on What is known, what is unknown and what do we need to know in order to better control the disease in Africa, 25-26 January 2013, Addis Ababa
 * Immuno-informatics Training, 4 June 2013, ILRI Nairobi