Difficult Vaccine Targets, including COVID-19 (Stanley Plotkin and Federico Martinón-Torres)

Webinar “Difficult Vaccine Targets, including COVID-19” Obtaining a vaccine against COVID19 will be the true turning point for this pandemic but this is a complex task. We need speed but also safety, as well as the capacity to produce it in sufficient amounts. Throughout history we have achieved remarkable success with vaccines but also some failure stories, and these can be informative on the path towards COVID19 vaccines. We will review the state of development of vaccines against COVID19 paying special attention to the lessons so far learned from the most challenging vaccines. Prof. Dr. Stanley Plotkin (US), Emeritus Professor at the Wistar Institute and University of Pennsylvania and World reference in the vaccines field, and Prof. Dr. Federico Martinón-Torres (Spain), Head of Pediatrics and Director of Translational Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases at Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago and Coordinator of the vaccine trials unit of the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago, discussed how in the race for the discovery of a vaccine against COVID-19, important lessons can be learnt from other elusive vaccine targets. In this webinar celebrated 18-june 2020, the state of the art of COVID-19 vaccines was reviewed from this angle. Organized by GENVIP Academy (www.genvip.org) from Healthcare Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS, Spain) and Pediatric Department (www.serviciodepediatriasantiago.es) of Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (SERGAS, Spain) and endorsed by Spanish Translational Research Network in Infectious Diseases (RITIP - www.ritip.org), and Spanish Clinical Trials Network (RECLIP - www.reclip.org) Prof. Dr. Stanley Plotkin is Emeritus Professor at the Wistar Institute and University of Pennsylvania, and he is a consultant to the vaccine industry. He developed the rubella vaccine now used worldwide and has worked extensively on the development and application of other vaccines including polio, rabies, varicella, rotavirus and cytomegalovirus. He is the author of more than 800 research papers and has edited several books including ‘Vaccines’, the standard textbook on vaccination. Dr Plotkin has served as senior assistant surgeon with the Epidemic Intelligence Service, U.S. Public Health Service; director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; associate chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania; medical and scientific director of Aventis Pasteur; and executive advisor to Sanofi Pasteur. Dr. Plotkin’s professional awards include the Sabin Foundation Medal (2002); the French Legion Medal of Honor (1998); the Clinical Virology Award, Pan American Group for Rapid Viral Diagnosis (1995); the Distinguished Physician Award, Pediatric Infectious Disease Society (1993); and the Bruce Medal of the American College of Physicians (1987). Prof. Dr. Federico Martinón-Torres (@fedemartinon) ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9023-581X is the Head of Pediatrics and Director of Translational Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases at the Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago (www.serviciodepediatriasantiago.es), Associate Professor in Pediatrics at the University of Santiago, and member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Galicia, Spain. Dr. Martinón-Torres is a member of the European Technical Advisory Group of Experts (ETAGE) of the WHO/Europe group and coordinates the WHO collaborating centre in Spain for Vaccine Safety. He has published over 250 articles, seven books and 150 book chapters. He is coordinating or leading 30 ongoing trials and research projects and is also a member of over 20 international societies, including the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Network (ReSViNET). He currently coordinates the Spanish Network of Pediatric Clinical Trials (RECLIP) and co-coordinates the Translational Research Network in Infectious Diseases, as well as the Genetics, Vaccines, Infecctions and Pediatrics Research Group (GENVIP) at the Healthcare Research Institute of Santiago, Spain. Dr. Martinon has received the Best in Class award for Infectious Diseases Unit (2018 and 2019) and Zendal International Research Award (2020).