30 January marks World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, a moment to shine a light on diseases that cause substantial harm to public health, yet remain underprioritised in research, funding, and action.
The WORMVACS2.0 consortium brings together experts in immunology, epidemiology, and vaccine development to establish an effective pipeline for developing vaccines against parasitic worms that cause some of the world’s most devastating and persistent neglected tropical diseases.
In this video, you meet the team in CERMEL, one of the project partners. Some colleagues work in the clinic, seeing patients, gathering data on the prevalence of different diseases, and collecting samples, while others analyse these data to identify ways to fight parasitic worm infections.
Each of them, from nurses to lab technicians, is an essential part of the team, contributing to the important work of fighting neglected tropical diseases.
30 January marks World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, an occasion to highlight diseases that, while they harm public health in considerable ways, are often not prioritised regarding research and other actions to limit their effects. Reasons for this are varied – their overall impact might be difficult to measure, and they often affect populations in lower-income countries, where resources for public health research and measures are likewise limited.
WORMVACS2.0 is a Horizon Europe project that aims to overcome some of these barriers, bringing together researchers from 4 different continents to explore worm infections. It seeks to better define immunity against worm infections and eventually set up a helminth vaccine development pipeline. By doing this, the project contributes to the goal of strengthening innovation in dealing with neglected tropical diseases.
We spoke with Prof Dr Cornelis Hokke, WORMVACS2.0 coordinator, to learn more. In this video interview, he dives into the project goals and the consortium working to achieve them.
