Katie Ewer | |
---|---|
Academic background | |
Education | PhD, Immunology, 2004, Open University |
Thesis | Relationships between tuberculosis exposure, ex vivo antigen-specific T cell responses, and delayed type hypersensitivity in point-source outbreaks. (2004) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Oxford |
Katie Jane Ewer is a British immunologist and Professor of Vaccine Immunology at the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute. [1]
When she did not get into medical school,Ewer pursued a career in biomedical science and became interested in infectious diseases. [2] She was interested in a career in biology for she was "fascinated by seemingly endless processes that occur in our cells and organs every second of our lives without us knowing about it. [3] Ewer earned an undergraduate degree in biomedical science,which included a year of microbiology training. [4] She then began working as a biomedical scientist at the microbiology department of the John Radcliffe Hospital in 2000, [5] before pursuing a PhD on the immunology of tuberculosis (TB). [4] Ewer earned her PhD at the Open University as a result of her research with Ajit Lalvani on novel diagnostic tools using T cells for the diagnosis of tuberculosis infection. [5]
Upon earning her PhD,Ewer joined the UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency where she studied the effectiveness of TB vaccines in cattle and managed the roll-out of interferon-gamma-based diagnosis for bovine TB in the UK herd for the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs. [5] While in this role,she co-published Diagnosis of tuberculosis in South African children with a T cell-based assay:a prospective cohort study with Susan Liebeschuetz. [6]
In 2008,Ewer became a Senior Immunologist at Oxford University's Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research. [5] While there,she continued to study the effects of TB on populations and led clinical trials in an effort to discover a vaccine for Ebola. [7] The aim of her research was to define vaccine-induced immunological parameters that correlate with protection from malaria and understand why vaccines do not always work as well as expected. [8] During the COVID-19 pandemic,she led clinical controlled trials in an effort to find a vaccine,which was published in a 2020 study titled Safety and immunogenicity of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2:a preliminary report of a phase 1/2,single-blind,randomised controlled trial. [9]
Tuberculosis is diagnosed by finding Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria in a clinical specimen taken from the patient. While other investigations may strongly suggest tuberculosis as the diagnosis,they cannot confirm it.
Tuberculosis (TB) vaccines are vaccinations intended for the prevention of tuberculosis. Immunotherapy as a defence against TB was first proposed in 1890 by Robert Koch. Today,the only effective tuberculosis vaccine in common use is the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine,first used on humans in 1921. It consists of attenuated (weakened) strains of the cattle tuberculosis bacillus. It is recommended for babies in countries where tuberculosis is common.
Malaria vaccines are vaccines that prevent malaria,a mosquito-borne infectious disease which annually affects an estimated 247 million people worldwide and causes 619,000 deaths. The first approved vaccine for malaria is RTS,S,known by the brand name Mosquirix. As of April 2023,the vaccine has been given to 1.5 million children living in areas with moderate-to-high malaria transmission. It requires at least three doses in infants by age 2,and a fourth dose extends the protection for another 1–2 years. The vaccine reduces hospital admissions from severe malaria by around 30%.
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 E. 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. 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.
Sir Adrian Vivian Sinton Hill,is an Irish vaccinologist,Director of the Jenner Institute and Lakshmi Mittal and Family Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford,an honorary Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases,and Fellow of Magdalen College,Oxford. Hill is a leader in the field of malaria vaccine development and was a co-leader of the research team which produced the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine,along with Professor Sarah Gilbert of the Jenner Institute and Professor Andrew Pollard of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
Helen Irene McShane is a British infectious disease physician and a professor of vaccinology,in the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford,where she has led the tuberculosis vaccine research group since 2001. She is senior research fellow at Harris Manchester College,Oxford.
Rachel Tanner is an immunologist working at the University of Oxford. She won the UK 'Women of the Future' Award for Science in 2019.
Dame Sarah Catherine Gilbert FRS is an English vaccinologist who is a Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford and co-founder of Vaccitech. She specialises in the development of vaccines against influenza and emerging viral pathogens. She led the development and testing of the universal flu vaccine,which underwent clinical trials in 2011.
Hazel Marguerite Dockrell is an Irish-born microbiologist and immunologist whose research has focused on immunity to the human mycobacterial diseases,leprosy and tuberculosis. She has spent most of her career at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,where as of 2020 she is a professor of immunology. She was the first female president of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Jimmy Whitworth of the Wellcome Trust describes her as "a marvellous ambassador for global health and research."
The Jenner Institute is a research institute on the Old Road Campus in Headington,east Oxford,England. It was formed in November 2005 through a partnership between the University of Oxford and the UK Institute for Animal Health. It is associated with the Nuffield Department of Medicine,in the Medical Sciences Division of Oxford University. The institute receives charitable support from the Jenner Vaccine Foundation.
Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc is a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies for infectious diseases,cancer and autoimmune diseases such as hepatitis B,HPV and prostate cancer. Formerly known as Vaccitech plc,in November 2023 the company announced that it had renamed itself to Barinthus Biotherapeutics plc.
The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology,previously the N. F. Gamaleya Federal Research Center for Epidemiology &Microbiology,is a Russian medical-research institute within the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
Sir Andrew John Pollard is the Ashall Professor of Infection &Immunity at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College,Oxford. He is an Honorary Consultant Paediatrician at John Radcliffe Hospital and the Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group. He is the Chief Investigator on the University of Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine trials and has led research on vaccines for many life-threatening infectious diseases including typhoid fever,Neisseria meningitidis,Haemophilus influenzae type b,streptococcus pneumoniae,pertussis,influenza,rabies,and Ebola.
ChAdOx1 is an adenoviral vector for vaccines that was developed by the Jenner Institute,University of Oxford. The vector is a chimpanzee adenovirus modified to avoid its replication.
A viral vector vaccine is a vaccine that uses a viral vector to deliver genetic material (DNA) that can be transcribed by the recipient's host cells as mRNA coding for a desired protein,or antigen,to elicit an immune response. As of April 2021,six viral vector vaccines,four COVID-19 vaccines and two Ebola vaccines,have been authorized for use in humans.
Eleanor Barnes is a British physician at the John Radcliffe Hospital and a Professor of Hepatology and Experimental Medicine at the University of Oxford. She has studied hepatitis C and the development of the development of HCV vaccines. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and serves as the lead for hepatology at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network.
John R. Mascola is an American physician-scientist,immunologist and infectious disease specialist. He was the director of the Vaccine Research Center (VRC),part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also served as a principal advisor to Anthony Fauci,director of NIAID,on vaccines and biomedical research affairs. Mascola is the current Chief Scientific Officer for ModeX Therapeutics.
Susanna Jane Dunachie is a British microbiologist who is Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Oxford. Her work considers microbiology and immunology to better understand bacterial infection and accelerate the development of vaccines. She has focused on melioidosis,scrub typhus and tuberculosis. During the COVID-19 pandemic,she studied T cell immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
Christine Rollier is a French-British immunologist who is a professor at the University of Surrey. She focusses on the development of viral vector vaccines to treat infectious diseases. In particular,Rollier has focussed on the development of vaccinations to eliminate the plague.
Deborah F. Kelly is an American biomedical engineer who is a professor at Pennsylvania State University. Her research makes use of cryogenic electron microscopy to better understand human development and disease. She serves as President of the Microscopy Society of America.