Moving from pre-clinical trialing for a peptide-based vaccine to prevent Strep A infections (Zoom)

with Dr. Michael Good, AO (Order of Australia)

3:10 pm - 3:55 pm, Feb. 8, 2024

Strep A infections are responsible for a myriad of diseases, including rheumatic heart disease and invasive Strep A disease.  These latter conditions are prevalent worldwide but are significantly more prevalent in economically developing societies and amongst First Nation peoples in developed countries.  Each year, over 500,000, mostly young, lives are lost to Strep A infections and their sequelae.  Dr. Good and colleagues in Australia have been working with senior colleagues in the Li Ka Shing Institute and the University of Alberta to progress a peptide-based vaccine into Phase I clinical trials.  The vaccine targets conserved epitopes on two virulence factors - the anti-phagocytic M-protein and the IL8 protease, Spy-CEP.    Dr. Good will present data from the Phase I trial and describe their strategy to move into efficacy trials.

 

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Dr. Michael F. Good AO heads the Laboratory of Vaccines for the Developing World, Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and holds an adjunct professorial appointment in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta. He is the past Chairperson of the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Director of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and President of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI). Professor Good’s interests are in the field of immunity and immunopathogenesis to malaria, group A streptococcus and COVID-19, with reference to the development of vaccines. In 2008 Professor Good was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to medical research and in 2009 he received the Eureka Prize for Leadership. In 2010, Professor Good was a recipient of the Queensland Greats Awards and in 2023 won the Dr John Raftos Prize from the Foundation for Medical Research and Innovation. Professor Good is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology Sciences and Engineering, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, the Royal Society of Biology and the American Academy of Microbiology.