EDCTP-Wellcome symposium at ASTMH 2018

01 November 2018 - 01 November 2018
Marriot Hotel, New Orleans, USA
Type of event International meeting
Scope Controlled human infection studies; research ethics; LMICs

This symposium focuses on the conduct of controlled human infection studies (CHIS) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).These studies involve the deliberate infection of healthy human volunteers with disease-causing agents. Therefore, these studies require strong scientific and ethical justification, and oversight.

Go to session programme (ASTMH 2018 website)

Go to leaflet (PDF; programme leaflet)

For the third time in a row, EDCTP and Wellcome Trust organised a session (#169) as a contribution to the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). Dr Pauline Beattie (EDCTP) and Dr Mike Turner (Wellcome Trust) will be chairing.

The symposium (session #169) takes place on 1 November 2018 from 08:00-09:45 AM at the New Orleans Marriot.

Controlled human infection studies, or challenge studies, can play a key role in research to address important public health needs:

  • They contribute to the understanding of pathogenesis and immunogenicity, especially in the absence of suitable animal models for particular diseases.
  • They offer the potential to accelerate drug and vaccine development by establishing proof of concept and guiding down-selection in a shorter time, e.g. the recently licensed cholera vaccine Vaxchora™.

 

This symposium aims to share the practical experiences of researchers involved in the establishment and conduct of CHIS of poverty-related diseases in LMICs. Speakers will summarize how they have managed the scientific, ethical and regulatory challenges of CHIS in diverse settings in Asia and Africa.

Human challenge models for dengue, malaria and pneumococcal disease will be presented, as well as an ethical perspective on participation in human challenge studies.