NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 2021
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It's been an incredibly busy three months at VALIDATE! Members met online for our 2021 Annual Meeting, we launched the final versions of our BCG Adventures video games, ran a recent fellowship call, and opened for applications to our ECR Career Development Network.
We have also welcomed 15 new members to the VALIDATE Network, now boasting 478 members from 226 institutes across 68 countries (41 Lower and Middle-Income Countries). Connect with us and your fellow members online at our events, and via the members directory and our social media.
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VALIDATE funding for TB researchers
**Two calls open: Deadline 7 March 2022**
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Pump-priming grants
Up to £50,000 (plus overheads) available for pump-priming projects that will lead to relevant and useful data for the field, or produce pilot data that will lead to a larger grant application to an external funder. Projects must be scientifically excellent, and fall within the VALIDATE remit.
Please visit our website for further details on this call.
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Training grants
Grants of up to £3500 are available to help Associate members take up training opportunities that will contribute to their continuing professional development, including attending courses/workshops or laboratory exchanges (or for LMIC members to talk at an international conference).
Please visit our website for further details on this call.
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'BCG Adventures' Launched!
We have now released the final versions of BCG Adventures - our free educational video games all about vaccines. These were developed in close partnership with many VALIDATE members, whom we would like to thank for their support.
We still need your help promoting this exciting project: do please use our Promotion Pack (including trailers, gifs, and text for social media posts) to engage teachers, colleagues, friends and any young people/future scientists who you think might enjoy the games - and don't forget to use them yourself in any outreach!
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2021 Annual Meeting
VALIDATE's 2021 Annual Meeting took place online across 15 September, 14 October, and 16 November. We heard from our Pump-priming and Fellowship grant recipients, as well as senior diplomats, and had some great exchanges in the Q&A sessions. Thanks to everyone who could join!
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Vaccine Development and Sero-diagnosis of Leprosy
On 30 November, Dr Yumi Maeda (NIID), spoke to VALIDATE members about her team's construction of a rBCG that secretes Major Membrane Protein-II of M. leprae, and found that it was effective in inhibiting the growth of M. leprae in mice footpads.
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VALIDATE was also proud to sponsor the 2021 Institut Pasteur BCG Symposium in Lille.
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The VALIDATE community continues to grow and we have welcomed 15 new members in this quarter. As ever, we encourage our members to collaborate, so check out our new members' profiles and get in touch to build your next research partnership.
Investigators
Assoc Prof Marcela Henao-Tamayo, Colorado State University, USA
VALIDATE Associates
Dr Namaunga Kasumu Chisompola, Copperbelt University, Zambia
Dr Ernest Adankwah, KNUST, Ghana
Dr Thao-Thy Pham, Belgian Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium
Dr Anele Gela, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Dr Cristian Segura-Cerda, CIATEJ, Mexico
VALIDATE Affiliates
Dr Suzy Jackson, University of Oxford, UK
King Duho, Dataking Research Lab, Ghana
Jonathan Adjei, Kwame Nkrumah University, Ghana
Mavis Puopelle Dakorah, Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana
Isabel Neale, University of Oxford, UK
Lucy Denly, University of Oxford, UK
Marcellus Korompis, University of Oxford, UK
Orawan Tulyaprawat, Mahidol University, Thailand
Robert Mitchell, University of Oxford, UK
New members are always welcome!
VALIDATE membership is free and open to all, so please let colleagues know about the many benefits of membership and how to join our growing community.
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Recent progress in Shigella and Burkholderia pseudomallei vaccines. MDPI
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Lymphatic filariasis and Visceral leishmaniasis coinfection: A review on their epidemiology, therapeutic, and immune responses. Acta Tropica
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ChimLeish, a new recombinant chimeric protein evaluated as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for visceral leishmaniasis and human immunodeficiency virus coinfection. Parasitology Research
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100 years of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine. Vaccine
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2021 has been an incredibly busy, disrupted, and often stressful year for many around the world, so the VALIDATE Team want to wish a very Happy Christmas to all of you who celebrate this festive season, and a great 2022 to those welcoming in a New Year. We hope you get some time to relax with family and friends, and all stay COVID safe.
Happy Christmas!
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