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​â¶Ä‹The LSHTM Vaccine Centre is pleased to host "Strep A Vaccines: Past, Present, and Future," an online webinar exploring the critical importance of Strep A disease and the urgent need for a Strep A vaccine. Strep A kills half a million people per year and can lead to rapidly fatal invasive disease and the devastating long term condition of Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), affecting millions globally. This event brings together three expert speakers discussing the complex history of Strep A vaccination, the current urgency for a vaccine to protect the communities most affected, and research progress towards vaccination. ​

​The webinar will encourage insightful and provocative discussions, highlighting historical (and present) barriers driven by social injustice, but also highlight the hopes on the horizon for safe and effective Strep A vaccines.  

​The event will be held online, with time allocated for an interactive Q&A session.

Speakers

​â¶Ä‹, Murdoch Children's Research Institute

Talk title: "The history of Strep A vaccination – It’s… bigger on the inside!"

Dr Josh Osowicki is a Paediatric Infectious Diseases physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital and leads the Vaccine Challenges team in the Tropical Diseases Research Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, in Melbourne. Josh has a Janus-faced career as a clinician-scientist, aiming to cure human infections in his clinical work and to deliberately cause them in his research (safely and for science)! With an international team he led development of the world’s only Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis human infection model in the CHIVAS-M75 study. Josh is working with every major developer on human challenge trials to evaluate their Strep A vaccine candidate/s and projects to explore correlates of immune protection and novel immunoassays.  His work has work led him deep into the history archives, revealing the extent of early Strep vaccine research and delivery, with fascinating insights to inform current Strep A vaccine research.

​, University of Cape Town 

​Talk title: "Why a Strep A vaccine is urgently needed: who needs it and what we need to do about it?"

​Professor Engel’s research includes all aspects of rheumatic heart disease (RHD), employing a wide range of investigative approaches in efforts to improve the understanding of this poverty-related heart disease.  His research experience spans epidemiology and population-based research, establishing registries and biorepositories, clinical sciences, health systems and policy and, molecular research (including Strep A, the organism involved in RHD development).

​, MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM

​Talk title: "Working towards the vision of safe and effective vaccines at MRC Unit The Gambia"

​Fatoumata Camara is a Scientific Officer at The MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM where she worked on the Streptococcus pyogenes carriage acquisition, persistence and transmission dynamics within households in The Gambia (SpyCATS) study, including investigating natural protective immunity. An integral member of the MRC Gambia Strep A Study group, she will present an overview of the research programme which seeks to contribute to the fight for a safe and effective vaccine.   ​ 

Event notices

• Please note that the recording link will be listed on this page when available