From Uganda to the Netherlands: project partners visit the LUMC

Knowledge sharing and capacity building are among the guiding principles of the WORMVACS2.0 consortium, enriching the research process with diverse strengths and perspectives and ensuring that partners grow through collaboration in ways that will benefit them beyond the project. In the past month, two of the researchers from the Uganda National Health Research Organisation (UNHRO) – Dr Emmanuella Driciru and Dr Moses Egesa – visited the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) to further analyse new experimental data obtained using samples from POPVAC, a schistosomiasis study conducted in Uganda by colleagues from the Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit.

Dr Emma Houlder, Dr Emmanuella Driciru, Dr Angela van Diepen, Dr Moses Egesa, and Prof Dr Cornelis Hokke discussing project-related data at the LUMC.

One of the big questions the consortium is trying to answer is how immunity against worm infections develops. By comparing data from the POPVAC study with data from controlled human schistosome infection studies conducted in the Netherlands, in this case antibody specificity and glycosylation, the teams will gain better insight into differences in immune responses between groups with different infection susceptibilities. This information will help them select the most promising vaccine targets for future vaccine formulation testing.

If you’re interested in the steps WORMVACS2.0 is taking to establish an effective pipeline for parasitic worm vaccine development, learn more about our activities here.