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Bristol University has a strong research profile in computational simulation and modelling of the impact of interventions to control infectious diseases, including vaccination. The NIHR Health Protection Research Unit undertakes work on the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of vaccines in the UK including N. meningitides, N. gonorrhoeae, Herpes Simplex virus, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. The dynamics of infectious disease are highly non-linear and introduction of new vaccines in UK is generally based upon cost-effectiveness considerations. Internationally the WHO develops strategies for implementing and scaling up vaccines which have been demonstrated to be safe and effective. In addition, using high-throughput ‘omics approaches we are developing computational platforms that can be used to better understand the host response to infection at the systems level to develop improved and novel vaccines that elicit an appropriate immune response.

Synthetic biology researchers at Bristol have exploited their detailed understanding of peptide self-assembly, to produce Self-Assembled peptide caGEs, (SAGEs) that form ~100 nm spherical objects. Borrowing from our knowledge of virus structure and function, new types of hybrid nanoparticles with potential biomedical applications including; antigen display, vaccine design and drug delivery are being designed and tested.

Our synthetic and computational biologists will be visiting Thailand during the week of the 16 – 20 January 2017. The objectives of the visit are to meet potential collaborators, and encourage applications to the Bristol Tackles Global Challenges travel grants.  We would also be very interested in visiting facilities and learning about vaccine development in Thailand.

Contacts:

Dr Andrew Davidson, Senior Lecturer in Virology

• Email: Andrew.Davidson@bristol.ac.uk
• Publications: http://tinyurl.com/zbwt8kh

Dr Katy Turner, Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Infectious Diseases

• Email: Katy.Turner@bristol.ac.uk
• Publications: http://tinyurl.com/hroxulg