Through this key area of work, we want to:
This is a key area of Wellcome’s work but it is not a funding call.
We’ll continue to fund people with great ideas for developing vaccines through our existing funding schemes.
We’re working across several areas to achieve our goals.
Vaccines are a vital tool for fighting epidemics, but developing a vaccine from scratch typically takes more than 10 years. We’re working to support the development of vaccines against known diseases, and of new technology to accelerate vaccine development when new threats appear.
We are:
We have:
Find out how CEPI is working to outsmart epidemics.
Vaccines work best when they are developed specifically for the populations most at risk. An effective way to do this is through human infection studies, which involve testing the vaccines on volunteers from relevant communities.
We are:
Our animation explains what human infection studies are and why they're important.
Vaccines can help prevent infections which are resistant to antibiotics, and diseases which can lead to unnecessary prescription of antibiotics. But they’re not used enough as a tool to tackle drug-resistant infections.
For this, we:
Find out in the Wellcome Global Monitor, the largest survey of public attitudes toward science and health.
For advances in vaccine science to benefit more people, more quickly, implementation and evidence need to be more closely linked.
One example where this link could be stronger is between cholera control and research. Cholera, often thought of as a disease of history, still causes an estimated 2.9 million cases and 95,000 deaths every year.
We are:
Countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries with high burdens of infectious disease, need to be able to develop independent policies on immunisation that are based on research evidence, local disease burden and cost-effectiveness. To do this, they need access to relevant evidence, clear decision-making pathways, and technical skills and expertise.
We’re working to identify, fund, share and apply relevant research so that decisions can be based on better information. This includes:
Vaccines already save millions of lives, but they could be saving many millions more. This can only happen with the support of global policy makers.
We are:
Vaccines are one of our most effective health interventions, but are often misunderstood. In this Q&A, we explain what they are, how they work and why they are important.
Read more articles on vaccines
To contact someone in the team, email vaccines@wellcome.ac.uk.
See who’s in who the vaccines team and the strategic advisory board.
