Oxford Vaccine Group

Oxford Vaccine Group

Oxford Vaccine Group logo

Oxford Vaccine Group logo
Formation 1994
Purpose Research and clinical trials
Location
Director
 Professor Andrew J Pollard
Parent organization
 University of Oxford
Affiliations UKCRC registered
Staff
 75
Website www.ovg.ox.ac.uk

The Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) is a vaccine research group within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1994 by Professor Richard Moxon, was initially based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and moved in 2003 to its current location in the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine (CCVTM) at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England.[1] The group, led by Professor Andrew Pollard since 2001, comprises around 75 members across a number of disciplines, including consultants in paediatrics and vaccinology, clinical research fellows, research nurses, statisticians, post-doctoral laboratory scientists, research assistants and DPhil students.

Aims and background

OVG carries out research on vaccines to improve human health. It works to enhance the understanding of immunity, studies the epidemiology of infectious diseases, and conducts clinical trials into new and improved vaccines for children and adults. Research by Richard Moxon into the public health impact of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) invasive disease in the UK, and efficacy studies of the Hib conjugate vaccine in UK children, led to the founding of OVG in 1994.[2] Since then OVG has particularly specialised in research into meningococcal disease and vaccines to prevent the disease. OVG has been involved with the development of the new vaccine against MenB which was licensed in Europe in 2013.[3][4] The Group has also carried out research on pneumococcal vaccines, typhoid vaccines and, more recently, new vaccines against Ebola. OVG is a research group within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford. It is a UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) registered clinical trials unit working in collaboration with the Primary Care Unit Clinical Trials Unit (Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences) and the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford.[5][6] It is also a participant in the UK Paediatric Vaccine Group (UKPVG)[7] and contributes to the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust’s tertiary Paediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology Service.[8] All OVG trials are listed on the UK Clinical Trials Gateway. OVG supports the All Trials Campaign.[9]

Professor Andrew Pollard, OVG’s Director, was appointed Chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in March 2014.[10] Senior staff at OVG are periodically asked to give expert opinions on aspects of vaccines and infectious disease, especially meningococcal disease. For example the 2015 announcement that 14- to 18-year-olds in the UK are to be vaccinated against MenW disease,[11] and the 2012 European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommendation for approval of a new meningitis B vaccine.[12]

Research activity

Since 2001, OVG has enrolled over 12,500 adults and children into clinical trials in the Thames Valley area of England. OVG research has included:

Vaccine Knowledge Project

In 2011, the group launched the Vaccine Knowledge Project, funded by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre.[28] The project website aims to provide independent, evidence-based information about vaccines and infectious diseases. The NHS Choices website lists the Vaccine Knowledge website as a recommended external link on several of its pages.[29][30][31] The website has also been referenced in the national media in the UK, particularly during the 2014-15 US measles outbreak originating in Disneyland California.[32][33]

References

  1. ↑ Oxford Vaccine Group website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  2. ↑ Biography of Richard Moxon, The Jenner Institute website, University of Oxford. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  3. 1 2 Sarah Boseley, Health Editor (15 May 2008). "Meningitis B tests raise hope of vaccine". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Denis Campbell (16 November 2012). "Doctors hail meningitis vaccine 'breakthrough'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  5. ↑ Primary Care and Vaccines Collaborative Clinical Trials Unit website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  6. ↑ List of registered clinical trials units on the UK Clinical Research Collaboration website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  7. ↑ List of UKPVG participating organisations on the UK Paediatric Vaccine Group website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  8. ↑ Paediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  9. ↑ Oxford Vaccine Group signature on the All Trials Campaign website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  10. ↑ Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation membership. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  11. ↑ Science Media Centre, 15 March 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  12. ↑ Science Media Centre, 16 November 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  13. ↑ "Meningitis C vaccine 'wears off in early teens'". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  14. ↑ Perrett KP, et al. Antibody persistence after serogroup C meningococcal conjugate immunization of United Kingdom primary-school children in 1999-2000 and response to a booster: a phase 4 clinical trial. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2010 Jun 15;50(12):1601-10
  15. ↑ "Teen jab theory over meningitis C". BBC News. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "Meningitis C vaccine ‘wears off in early teens’". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  17. ↑ Fergus Walsh (24 May 2006). "‘I am testing new bird flu jab’". BBC News. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  18. ↑ Leroux-Roels I, et al. Humoral and cellular immune responses to split-virion H5N1 influenza vaccine in young and elderly adults. Vaccine 2009 Nov 16;27(49):6918-25.
  19. ↑ Fergus Walsh (20 October 2006). "Meningitis B vaccine trials begin". BBC News. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "Child swine flu vaccine trial results published". BBC News. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "Children respond well to swine flu vaccines, trial shows". The Guardian. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  22. ↑ Waddington CS, et al. Safety and immunogenicity of AS03B adjuvanted split virion versus non-adjuvanted whole virion H1N1 influenza vaccine in UK children aged 6 months-12 years: open label, randomised, parallel group, multicentre study. BMJ 2010;340:c2649
  23. ↑ Reg Little (18 February 2010). "Never-ending war on disease". The Oxford Times. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  24. ↑ EUCLIDS work packages. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  25. ↑ Fergus Walsh (6 January 2015). "Ebola: New vaccine trial begins". BBC News. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  26. ↑ "Oxford University doctors and scientists start trials for new Ebola vaccine". ITV News. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  27. ↑ Transcript of Oral Answers to Questions – Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 14th January 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  28. ↑ Vaccine Knowledge homepage. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  29. ↑ NHS Choices page on the MenC vaccine with external link to Vaccine Knowledge website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  30. ↑ NHS Choices page on the 3-in-1 teenage booster vaccine with external link to Vaccine Knowledge website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  31. ↑ NHS Choices page on Vaccine Myths with external link to Vaccine Knowledge website. Retrieved 25 June 2015
  32. ↑ Claire Armitstead (2 February 2015). "Roald Dahl becomes sage of US measles outbreak". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  33. ↑ Jules Montague (10 February 2015). "We should listen to Roald Dahl, not Jenny McCarthy, on vaccinating our children". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2015.

External links

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