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Veteran vaccine maker Dr. Beth-Ann Coller will discuss Ebola Vaccine Development During a Public Health Emergency and Implications for Pandemic Preparedness in a free, hybrid ARCS Honolulu Chapter Pau Hana presentation October 8.

The expanding, uncontrolled Bundibugyo Ebolavirus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo threatens to be the largest Ebola outbreak in history. The World Health Organization has declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Dr. Coller will provide an overview of key innovations in the development of an Ebolavirus vaccine, how that knowledge is being applied to the current outbreak, and how Ebola research being conducted at JABSOM is contributing to outbreak response.  

RSVP by Oct. 1 to attend in person at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (pupus from 5:30 p.m. HST) or by Oct. 7 to attend via Zoom (Zoom room open from 5:45 p.m.) The talk begins at 6 p.m. Hawai‘i Time (8 p.m. PDT, 11 p.m. EDT). 
All registrants will receive the link to the recorded session once it is posted on YouTube.

Development of vaccines and therapeutics is essential for long-term prevention and control of Ebolaviruses. Development of ERVEBO—the licensed single-dose, live-attenuated recombinant vaccine for the Zaire strain of Ebolavirus—provides important lessons on the regulatory, clinical, and development process that can be applied to the ongoing Bundibugyo outbreak and other epidemic pathogens. These lessons include the critical nature of public-private partnerships, need for innovation and coordination in clinical trial design, regulatory harmonization, and importance of community engagement.

Applying this knowledge is key as the public health community comes together to address the Bundibugyo outbreak, especially given reduced investment in emerging infectious disease research and the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO.

A retired pharmaceutical executive, Dr. Coller has more than 30 years in vaccine development, most recently leading work on Ebola and dengue vaccines at MERCK. She is an advisor to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation, a global organization working to accelerate vaccine development. She also leads updates to WHO’s Filovirus Road Map and serves on two NIH program advisory boards and a data-monitoring committee for a nonprofit involved in Filovirus vaccine development.

Details and registration are at https://tinyurl.com/ARCS-Ebola