1st NDM-Mexico Newton Fund Institutional Links Collaborative Dengue Project Workshop

Dengue is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world and there are currently no licensed vaccines to prevent dengue infection. Scientists at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, led by Prof Arturo Reyes-Sandoval, are developing a DENV vaccine to protect against all serotypes. In a collaborative effort, a consortium between Mexican and UK-based scientists are joining efforts to participate in the vaccine development and assess the responses elicited by the DENV vaccine antigen in samples from infected volunteers. In this first meeting held on 10^th July, the team met for the first time to discuss the initial training, each team’s research strengths and capacities, project goals and future research opportunities, including technology transfer and commercialisation of IP.

The following participants were present at the workshop:

The Jenner Institute, NDM Oxford: Prof Arturo Reyes Sandoval, Prof Lucy Dorrell, Dr Cesar López Camacho, Dr Gemma Hancock and DPhil candidate Joshua Blight as well as Dr Gilberto Estrada Harris, from NDM Strategic;

Medical Research Services Office, Oxford University: Dr Richard Liwicki;

Isis Innovation Ltd.: Dr Andrew Bowen;

Oxford Brookes University and Expression Technologies Ltd.: Prof Linda King and Prof Robert D. Possee;

ITESM Campus Cd. de México: Dr Juan José Plata, Dr Pilar Fernanda Murguía Meca, Dr Imilla Ilnamiqui Arias-Olguín, MSc Alfonso David Ríos Pérez and NDM-Mexico summer intern Ricardo Lozano Reyes;

Universidad Michoacana San Nicolás de Hidalgo: Dr Martha Eva Viveros Sandoval and MSc Nallely García Larragoiti;

Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla: Dr Jesús Francisco López Olguín, Dr Miguel Antonio García Knight, Dr Rosa del Carmen Rocha Gracia, MSc Erándeni Lorena Martínez Jiménez and undergraduate student  Surysadai Arias Escalante;

Laboratorio Estatal de Salud Pública, Michoacán: MSP Gloria Alicia Figueroa Aguilar and MSc Wendy Vianey Padilla Cabrera