Nicholas Jackson, Sanofi Pasteur to give keynote at GTCbio's Antiviral Drugs Conference
Nicholas Jackson, Sanofi Pasteur will discuss, "Zika Virus: Knowledge Gaps and Vaccine Research and Development Challenges" at GTCbio's Antiviral Drugs Meeting.
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease) April 10, 2016 - Nicholas Jackson, Vice President & Head of Global Research at Sanofi Pasteur, will give a keynote presentation on "Zika Virus: Knowledge Gaps and Vaccine Research and Development Challenges" at GTCbio's Antiviral Drugs Research & Development Conference on June 1-2, 2016 in San Diego, CA.
The recent emergence of Zika virus as a cause of severe disease in the Western Hemisphere has mobilized public health agencies, as well as commercial organizations, to embark on efforts to develop new approaches for combating this infection. Zika, a mosquito-borne flavivirus first recognized in 1947, has only recently been hypothesized to be associated with severe disease in humans, including cerebral embryopathy and Guillain-Barré syndrome. These links prompted the World Health Organization to list Zika as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern". Causality is being further investigated and it is feared that additional neurological complications may emerge in case controlled and cohort studies.
The spread of Zika virus from Africa through the tropical regions of Asia and the Pacific, where it caused outbreaks on Yap Island and French Polynesia, to South America where it has been associated with thousands of cases of cerebral embryopathy (also referred to as microcephaly) in Brazil, suggests that the virus is increasing its foothold. Furthermore, the widespread abundance of potential mosquito vectors and the currently unknown range of vectors able to transmit Zika is a cause for concern across multiple countries, including the United States.
As exemplified during the recent Ebola outbreak, it is clear that international and regional collaborations will be required to advance our understanding of Zika and to accelerate vaccine research and development. Significant challenges for vaccine research and development have been identified, including, amongst others, no identified correlate of protective immunity, unknown incidence rates for clinical complications, complexities of symptomatic and asymptomatic infection and the development of diagnostic assays that avoid cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses. Efforts to provide regulatory guidelines for development will greatly facilitate acceleration for new vaccines.
Dr. Nicholas Jackson joined Sanofi Pasteur in 2013 as the Head of Research and Development for the dengue vaccine program. He was responsible for all research and development activities related to the dengue program. Since 2015, he has been appointed Global Head of Research for Sanofi Pasteur. Dr. Jackson was trained in the United Kingdom and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oxford Brookes University, a master of science from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and a doctorate from the University of Warwick in the field of viral immunology. Subsequently, Dr. Jackson has spent over 18 years in prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine research and development, working on a variety of global vaccine programs (from early research through to Phase 3) in disease areas including Streptococcus, Hepatitis, HSV, HIV-1, RSV, Influenza and Alzheimer's disease. Prior to joining Sanofi Pasteur, Dr. Jackson served as the head of an immunology platform and also led a platform investigating vaccine candidates in development for a bacterial disease area.
The 5th Antiviral Drugs Research & Development Conference brings together a mix of academic and industry authoritative experts from leading affiliations (Harvard Medical School, The Scripps Research Institute, Arbutus, Sanofi Pasteur, U.S. Government Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), etc.) to cover many current and relevant aspects of new inhibitory mechanisms, longer acting drugs, and strategies en route for cures in HIV, RSV, Hepatitis B/C, Influenza, etc.
This conference is also part of our larger Infectious Diseases World Summit, which consists of 4 total conferences:
14th Vaccines Research & Development
13th Anti-Infectives Partnering & Deal-Making
5th Antiviral Drugs Research & Development
2nd Bugs & Drugs: Antibacterial Drug Discovery
For more information, please visit the website: http://www.gtcbio.com/antiviraldrugs
GTCbio
635 W. Foothill Blvd
Monrovia, CA 91016
www.gtcbio.com/
Email: infogtcbio ( @ ) gtcbio dot com
Phone: (626) 256-6405
Fax: (626) 466-4433
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