#VaccinesWork
Each April, World Immunisation Week gathers people from around the world to highlight the importance of vaccines and how they protect people against various diseases. So, to mark the event, we at TEAMIT Research are taking part to promote the campaign “The Big Catch-up”. These seven days will be a moment to join forces with many others and push for more vaccinations of millions of children, back to pre-pandemic vaccination levels. In today’s post, we speak with Teamit Research Head of Partnerships, Gianmarco Di Mauro. He’ll share his insights and learnings from across two major vaccine-centred projects, in which our spin-off Teamit Institute actively participates.
Gianmarco, thanks for taking some time to answer these questions for our readers. Before we delve into specifics, could you give us a bit of background on who you are and how that has influenced your role in vaccine-related projects across Europe?
I am a molecular biologist by training and have spent the last 5 years managing research initiatives. When I joined Teamit, I had the opportunity to set up and lead a company unit specialised in supporting the generation of scientific evidence to assess safety and efficacy of medicines and vaccines once in the market and used by patients. Thanks to our collaboration with the VAC4EU research network during the COVID-19 pandemic, we participated in several research projects aimed at evaluating the effects of vaccines against the COVID-19 virus. Moreover, in the past two years, Teamit has been participating in an Innovative Medicines Initiative-funded initiative called PROMISE that aims to study and prepare effective treatments against another important infectious disease, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
You briefly mentioned two major initiatives that help promote vaccine creation and uptake – VAC4EU and PROMISE. Could you share some more details about them?
VAC4EU (Vaccine Monitoring Collaboration for Europe) is a not-for-profit international association operating as a research infrastructure aimed at enabling, coordinating and accelerating the collaborative generation of real-world evidence on coverage, safety, and efficacy of vaccines in Europe. Thanks to its work in designing and executing post-authorisation monitoring for COVID-19 vaccines, VAC4EU has provided reliable information about the benefits and risks of vaccines helping public health decision-making and reinforcing public confidence in vaccination. VAC4EU is currently preparing to provide prompt responses to the assessment of new vaccines that are currently in development to treat new emerging diseases, among them RSV.
Then, there is PROMISE. This initiative builds on findings and outputs obtained by RESCEU (Respiratory Syncytial Virus Consortium in Europe), another IMI project which generated valuable insights into the impact of RSV on healthcare systems and society, and created a biorepository to assist future research. Currently, PROMISE is working on ways to better inform public health strategies and support the development and introduction of novel immunisation tools and therapeutics, such as vaccines. At the same time, it is evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on RSV epidemiology with a special focus on infants, young children and older adults. It is also raising awareness about this disease and preventable measures by providing factual information and developing a peer-support network for parents of RSV-affected children that can also advise academics, the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, and public health agencies. (Read full Fact Sheet here)
And, what can be done to support vaccine initiatives as they face challenges, based on your experience and insights over the years?
Thanks for asking. It’s important to take a couple of steps including:
- Providing accurate and clear information. Vaccine projects should offer accurate and direct information about the vaccines, including how they were developed, their safety and efficacy, and the potential benefits of getting vaccinated.
- Using trusted messengers. People are more likely to trust information about vaccines from their healthcare providers, community leaders, and other reliable sources. Vaccine projects can collaborate with these individuals and organisations to promote vaccination.
- Investing in and promoting EU initiatives like PROMISE and VAC4EU as part of a multifaceted strategy to improving overall care for different populations across Europe and the globe.
Thank you for this. And finally, what can we expect in the coming future from the projects you mentioned above, and even TEAMIT Institute?
We are hopeful that the current work being done by initiatives like VAC4EU and PROMISE could deliver real-work impact, including helping to speed up the development of effective solutions to new diseases whilst ensuring their efficacy and safety monitoring.
Teamit Institute is committed pursuing its goal, which includes supporting the creation and development of strong partnerships in the area of pharmacoepidemiology for the advancement of global health.
