Project: Immunogenicity to cholera vaccine within a population at risk in Zambia: mapping the kinetics of immune responses over time

Acronym	ChoVaxim (Reference Number: TMA2016CDF-1550)
Duration	01/07/2018 - 30/06/2021
Project Topic	In LMIC, oral vaccines perform poorly and several reasons are postulated including maternal breast milk components, environmental enteropathy, nutritional factors, and intestinal infections. Zambia has had a high burden of cholera over the past several years and the government is deploying a new oral cholera vaccine (Shanchol® manufactured by Shantha Biotechnics, India). While the vaccine has good efficacy in clinical trials, its real world immunogenicity is unproven. For example, the duration of vaccine induced immune response is not well characterized in LMICs where cholera outbreaks are common, the impact of human genetic predisposition on susceptibility to cholera on vaccine responses and the impact of HIV infection (which is common in Zambia) on the functional immune protection is unknown. Working together with local health officials in Zambia and scientific collaborators, we propose to leverage the introduction of Shanchol in Zambia to address the following research aims: 1 To profile cholera specific antibody status of a population at risk of cholera before and after receiving 1st and 2nd dose of shanchol ® oral cholera vaccine (OCV) 2 Develop and evaluate a non-invasive proxy measure of OCV immune responses 3 To measure the effect after immunizing HIV-infected individuals through measurement of the OCV generated antibodies 4 To assess the impact of ABO blood groups on cholera antibody generation In addition to carrying out the project, Dr. Chisenga will learn new laboratory techniques and take a grant writing course at Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. If awarded this grant, this would make Dr. Chisenga a local leader in immunology research in Zambia and prepare her to compete for peer-reviewed research funding. Through completion of the fellowship Dr Chisenga will develop skills and experience that will position her to lead future research in her field.
Network	EDCTP2
Call	Career Development Fellowships 2016

Project partner

Number	Name	Role	Country
1	Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia Limited	Coordinator	Zambia