IAH Jenner Fellowship: Assessing the efficacy of recombinant viral vaccines to induce heterosubtypic immunity to influenza in birds

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Existing seasonal flu vaccines target the highly variable haemagglutinin (HA) surface protein. While effective, these vaccines must be administered annually and provide little if any heterosubtypic immunity. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) targeting conserved internal antigens of influenza have been shown to mediate a cross-protective response. The Jenner Institute is currently testing Adenovirus and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) encoding the internal influenza antigens NP and M1 in humans. These vaccines are designed to boost pre-existing CTL responses in adults, and through prime boost regimes may help to provide heterosubtypic immunity in infants, who unlike most adults have not been repeatedly exposed to influenza. The Jenner-IAH fellowship is part of the Jenner Institute’s One Health approach to vaccine development, developing vaccines for humans and animals in parallel. The main aim of the fellowship is to assess the efficacy of these recombinant viral vaccines in chickens, to determine if boosting CTL responses to internal antigens will induce heterosubtypic immunity in birds.

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