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Vaccinology for Public Health and Clinical Practice in the 21st century

Overview

This course is run jointly by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong. The course is taking place in Hong Kong.

Overview - Vaccinology for Public Health and Clinical Practice in the 21st century
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Vaccines are the most effective tool for prevention against many infectious diseases. The last two decades have been called a “golden age” in the development of vaccines. However, many of the vaccines licensed in this era have highly complex immunological, ecological and economic effects. Effective use of these vaccines requires a new generation of public health professionals with multi-disciplinary skills to be able to understand issues around the immunological mechanism, safety, efficacy, effectiveness, population impact, effects on microbiological ecology, delivery, cost-effectiveness and public trust of vaccines. 

The course

This course is designed to provide graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other early-stage scientists an overview of the basic concepts in vaccinology. Participants will learn about the immunological and epidemiological principles of vaccination, vaccine development, how to measure vaccine efficacy or effectiveness, and how vaccination influences disease transmission and herd immunity. We will also discuss basic health economic evaluation of vaccination and vaccine hesitancy. The course will be taught in English.

Course content

  • Immunologic principles of vaccination
  • Evaluating serological responses induced by vaccination
  • Vaccine trials: introduction and planning
  • Clinical, virological, serological and internet-based disease surveillance
  • Genetic and antigenic disease surveillance based on molecular epidemiology
  • Inferring disease burden from surveillance data
  • Selecting virus strains for influenza vaccines
  • Infectious disease modeling and optimization of vaccination strategies
  • Health economic evaluation of vaccination programs
  • Vaccine hesitancy
  • Communicating the risks and benefits of vaccines to the public
  • Lessons learnt from the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines
  • Post-marketing vaccine safety and effectiveness surveillance

Who should apply

Early-stage public health and medical professionals and researchers with interests in multi-disciplinary skills of vaccinology are strongly encouraged to apply.

Sponsor

Every summer the Croucher Foundation funds short courses that aim to educate and inspire postgraduate students and early career researchers from Hong Kong and the wider region. This summer course is sponsored by Croucher Foundation. It is being run jointly by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong.

Teaching faculty

The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

  • Joseph T. Wu (Course Director), Associate Professor, School of Public Health
  • Thomas Abraham, Honorary Associate Professor, Journalism and Media Studies Centre
  • Benjamin J. Cowling, Professor, School of Public Health
  • Tommy T.Y. Lam, Assistant Professor, Centre for Influenza Research, School of Public Health
  • Leo L.M. Poon, Professor, School of Public Health
  • Carlos Wong, Assistant Professor
  • Ivan Hung, Clinical Professor

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

  • Mark Jit (Course Co-director), Professor of Vaccine Epidemiology
  • Pauline Paterson, Research Fellow and Co-leader of The Vaccine Confidence Project

NIH/Fogarty International Center

  • Cecile Viboud, Staff Scientist

Course fee

The course fee is HK$3,000 which covers the course materials, 5 nights of accommodation (2 participants share 1 room with twin beds), transportation between hotel and course venue, a welcome dinner, a farewell dinner and all breakfasts, lunches and tea breaks during the course. Limited single rooms are available at a higher fee upon special request and subject to approval. Payment should ONLY be made via the online portal upon confirmation of acceptance to the course.

Cancellation must be made via online portal before 31 May 2023. An administrative fee of 50% of the course fee will be charged if cancellations are made after 31 May 2023. No refund will be made after the course commencement.

CME Accreditations in Hong Kong

CME credits have been applied for practicing doctors who are not taking CME programme for specialists in Hong Kong. One CME point for each hour of completed session is applicable for CME accreditations from Hong Kong Doctors Union, Department of Health, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and The Hong Kong Medical Association.

Scholarships
Scholarships - Vaccinology for Public Health and Clinical Practice in the 21st century
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Scholarships available

A number of scholarships are available for participants whose poster abstracts are accepted for presentation in the poster session. The course fee will be waived for all scholarship awardees. In addition, scholarship awardees from Asia and those from elsewhere will receive an airfare (economy class) subsidy of up to HK$5,000 and HK$12,000, respectively. To apply, please submit an abstract (max 600 words) via online portal.

How to apply
How to apply - Vaccinology for Public Health and Clinical Practice in the 21st century
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Applications should be made online via the online portal with following documents:

1. One-page CV
2. One reference letter

Applications are now closed for this course.

Who should apply?

Early-stage public health and medical professionals and researchers with interests in multi-disciplinary skills of vaccinology are strongly encouraged to apply.