Ineo Oxford Institute Professor Receives Wellcome Discovery Award to Develop Campylobacter Vaccine for Livestock

OXFORD, UK — Professor Sam Sheppard, principal investigator of the Ineos Oxford Institute’s digital microbiology program, received a Wellcome Discovery Award of $6.2 million to develop vaccines against pathogens that cause diarrhea, the third most common cause of death among children under five years of age in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The most common bacterial cause of diarrhea is Campylobacter. These bacteria are prevalent in livestock such as poultry, cattle, pigs and sheep and can be transmitted to humans via contaminated water and food, especially poultry. Antibiotics have become increasingly ineffective against Campylobacter as bacteria have evolved to resist the action of these medicines. 

The process of transmission of the disease is still unclear. This is because Campylobacter is very common in the guts of wild and domestic animals and contaminated environments and can be transmitted easily to humans. Limited laboratory and diagnostics facilities and low patient attendance at health facilities in low-and-middle income countries make it harder for scientists to study the disease and find treatments.

A group of international researchers led by Sheppard will tackle this challenge by creating a framework of meta-genomic epidemiology surveillance. Meta-genomic epidemiology surveillance is an advanced approach used to monitor and track the spread of infectious diseases by analyzing the genetic material of all microorganisms present in a sample, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. They will study the genetic make-up of Campylobacter populations recovered from hospital and farm sites and use these data to develop a vaccine for animals that will interrupt the transmission chain and prevent the spread of Campylobacter to humans. Vaccines are one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant diseases. 

Pilot research has already taken place in The Gambia, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Peru. The team will further expand this work across Africa, where local partners will collect samples from infected humans and children, wild and domesticated animals, retail meat from supermarkets and the natural environment like waterbodies. 

“Contemporary meta-genomic epidemiology techniques will help us understand cryptic disease networks and track how the disease is transmitted from animals to humans,” Sheppard said. “Working in partnership with a network of 19 countries and nine African co-investigators, the Wellcome Discovery Award will allow us to create a global genomic surveillance hub to track the spread of diarrheal diseases.

“Current meta-genomic epidemiology can be expensive, time consuming and complex. As we set up our international hubs, we hope to train a new generation of scientists equipped with knowledge of genomic surveillance that will have impact beyond the lifetime of the grant.”

Georgia Walton, research manager in discovery research at Wellcome, said, "This project is an excellent example of how strong, global collaboration, alongside developing innovative new tools and technology, are essential to discovery research, enhancing our understanding of disease, health and wellbeing. We’re excited to follow the research, which shows the potential to be highly impactful for public health by preventing the spread of this diarrheal diseases, with a clear vision on building capacity and training the next generation so that the data and tools can be applied to vaccine development more broadly."

The team will work with industrial partners who will support proteome-wide antigen screening to investigate antibody responses in bacteria samples. The results from this screening will allow scientists to identify optimal vaccine targets and develop a state-of-the art glycoconjugate vaccine — a type of vaccine that combines a carbohydrate (sugar) molecule with a protein to enhance the immune response.

Dr. Kanny Diallo, associate postdoctoral fellow at the Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Cote d’Ivoire, and co-PI on the project, said, “This project will develop both institutional and human resource capacities essential for sustaining high-quality research in African centers. I am delighted to be part of a project that has the capacity to actually solve the Campylobacter problem by providing a safe and cost-effective solutions.”

However, the work does not finish once a vaccine has been developed.

“We need to ensure that the vaccine that we develop is stable, affordable and effective — that is the only way that there will be successful uptake, especially in low-and-middle income countries,” said Diallo. “Using the data collected in trials, we will monitor the effectiveness of the vaccine and quantify the impact of multiple factors to optimize vaccine delivery.

“We also hope that the impact of our work will continue after a vaccine has been successfully developed. The genomic infrastructure and microbiology techniques set up in our partner countries as part of this project can be continued for further metagenomics work and vaccine development.”

The award from Wellcome will create opportunities for up to eight Ph.D.s and fellowships for African researchers over eight years.

Professor Brendan Wren, professor of microbial pathogenesis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Co-PI on the project, said, “We are delighted to be receiving this funding, as it will provide a global model for novel vaccine development that could also be applied to other pathogens including those that cause AMR.”

Dr. Ozan Gundogdu, associate professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Co-PI on the project, said, "Using the latest integrative genomics-based methods, we will characterize the source of infections leading to campylobacteriosis, and the antigen targets that will underpin a vaccination program against this disease, paving the way for interventions to significantly reduce childhood morbidity and mortality in endemic regions of the world."

Co-investigators in this project include:

• Dr. Kanny Diallo, associate postdoctoral fellow at the Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Cote d’Ivoire

• Professor Abdul Sesay, head of the genomics strategic platform at the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia 

• Dr. Mohammad Jahangir Hossain, clinical epidemiologist, Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia 

• Dr. Ozan Gundogdu, associate professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

• Professor Brendan Wren, professor of microbial pathogenesis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

• Dr. Stella Smith, director of research, the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research African, Nigeria

Find out more about Sheppard’s work on digital microbiology here.