University College Dublin (UCD) has been awarded a €1.3 million grant aimed at rapidly deploying technology and developing new knowledge to end the current Mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries. is leading a new international consortium, MpoxVax AFRIVAC.
Professor Patrick Mallon, Director of the UCD Center for Experimental Pathogen and Host Research (CEPHR) and Professor of Microbial Diseases in the UCD Faculty of Medicine, is the lead coordinator of the consortium, and Professor Bruce Kirenga of the Makerere University Lung Research Institute in Kampala, Uganda, is the principal coordinator of the consortium. I am the lead coordinator of the consortium. Science coordinator.
MpoxVax AFRIVAC (Expanding Prospective Clinical Trial to Africa to Examine Immune Responses in Participants Receiving Modified Vaccinia Ankara Vaccine) is currently conducting a trial investigating the effectiveness of Mpox vaccination currently underway in Ireland. The plan is to expand to other countries in Africa that have been affected by vaccinations. Outbreak of Mpox infection. The consortium brings together leading experts from six partner institutions in Ireland, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and the UK to tackle this public health emergency.
Funding for this 30-month initiative was awarded by the European Commission’s European and Developing Country Clinical Trials Partnership (Global Health EDCTP3).
The Mpox epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is accelerating at an alarming rate, with a significant number of cases being reported across the DRC’s borders. This surge prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue the highest global health alert, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). According to the latest available data, the cumulative number of infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024 will exceed 20,000, of which more than 600 have died, with cases reported in 13 countries on the African continent. There is.
The MpoxVax trial is currently being conducted in Ireland and is funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) to investigate the immune response to Mpox vaccination (MVA-BN vaccine). The trial, led by Professor Eoin Feeney, a UCD clinician and consultant physician for infectious diseases at St Vincent’s University Hospital, will be coordinated through the Irish Infectious Diseases Clinical Trials Network (ID-CTNI) and will open five sites in Ireland. ID-CTNI includes St James’s Hospital, Galway University Hospital, Martell Misericordier University Hospital, Cork University Hospital and Beaumont Hospital.
Professor Mallon said: “As part of the MpoxVax trial at UCD CEPHR, we developed a new assay to measure the immune response to Mpox vaccination. The MpoxVax AFRIVAC project will enable us to use this new technology to improve clinical research infrastructure and vaccine delivery. It will be possible to relocate to do so.” The MpoxVax trial will build on learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic and directly contribute to international research that will lead to enhanced responses to global health threats. ”
MpoxVax AFRIVAC plans to further investigate and compare immune responses to vaccination for Mpox prevention in very important at-risk groups in Africa, building on data and experience currently available from MpoxVax in Ireland . ”
Professor Eoin Feeney, Principal Investigator of the MpoxVax trial in Ireland
Professor Bruce Kirenga, president of the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Epidemiology Research (ICER) based at Makerere University and the project’s scientific coordinator, said: It is very important because it studies the In many cases, vaccines deployed in Africa have been implemented in other settings, and the reasons for the different immune responses vary from genetics to immune priming due to Africa’s many infectious diseases. Help improve how vaccines are used. ”
The partner institution of the MpoxVax AFRIVAC consortium is UCD. Makerere University Lung Institute (MLI), Uganda. Catholic University of Bukavu (UCB) Democratic Republic of the Congo. National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR)-Mbeya Medical Research Centre, Tanzania. University of St. Andrews (USTAN), UK. Uganda National Health Research Organization (UNHRO) – Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).
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