Acronym
BuruliVac
Full Title
Identification and development of vaccine candidates for Buruli Ulcer Disease
Programme
FP7 / Collaborative Project
Contract Number
241500
Abstract
BuruliVac aims at identifying and developing novel vaccine candidates against M. ulcerans, a bacterium causing Buruli Ulcer Disease (BUD), the third most common mycobacterial disease in immunocompetent humans. BUD is a necrotising disease of the skin that produces massive ulcers and permanent disabling scars. A vaccine against M. ulcerans would protect persons at risk in highly endemic areas and could be used as a therapeutic vaccine to shorten duration of treatment and to prevent relapses. Within BuruliVac, researchers will subject vaccine candidates to consecutive testing systems. Since resulting vaccines should be suitable for translation into clinical application, BuruliVac will also study the immune response and disease immunopathology to define correlates of protection. Essential pre-clinical testing in vitro and in vivo will select a small number of candidates that is amenable to be introduced into clinical studies. A further integral part of BuruliVac will be extensive capacity building in African partner institutions in order to achieve an effective interaction of partner institutions and comparability of results generated by the individual teams.
Duration
36 months (01/03/2010 – 28/02/2013)
Project Funding
4,599,983 €
Coordinator
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine
Prof. Bernhard Fleischer
Phone: +49 40 4281 8401
Email
Partners
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Germany (Prof. Bernhard Fleischer)
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine (PD Dr. Gisela Bretzel)
Prince Leopold Institute for Tropical Medicine, Belgium (Prof. Françoise Portaels)
Swiss Tropical Institute, Switzerland (Prof. Gerd Pluschke)
St. George's University of London, United Kingdom
Hospital Medical School (Dr. Mark Wansbrough-Jones)
University Medical Centre Groningen, The Netherlands
Infectious Diseases and Tuberculosis Division (Prof. Tjip van der Werf)
Pasteur Institute, France (Dr. Caroline Demangel)
University of Minho, Portugal
Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (Prof. Jorge Pedrosa)
German Leprosy and Tuberculosis Relief Association, Germany (Dr. Adolf Diefenhardt)
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (Dr. Richard Phillips)
Ministry of Health of Benin
National Programme for the Control of Buruli Ulcer (Dr. Ghislain Sopoh)
National Reference Laboratory for Buruli Ulcer Disease and Tuberculosis, Benin (Dr. Dissou Affolabi)
Evangelical Medical Institute of Kimpese, DR Congo (Dr. Mavinga Phanzu)
Scientific Institute for Public Health, Belgium (Dr. Kris Huygen)
Lionex Diagnostics and Therapeutics GmbH, Germany (Prof. Mahavir Singh)
European Research and Project Office GmbH, Germany (Dr. Vera Siegmund)
Contact at Eurice
Dr. Vera Siegmund
Senior Programme Manager
Phone: +49 681 9592 3385
Email
Project Website
www.burulivac.eu