The Oxford Vaccine Group is a vaccine research group within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1994 by Professor E. Richard Moxon, was initially based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and moved in 2003 to its current location in the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England. The group, led by Professor Andrew Pollard since 2001, comprises around 75 members across a number of disciplines, including consultants in paediatrics and vaccinology, clinical research fellows, research nurses, statisticians, post-doctoral laboratory scientists, research assistants and DPhil students.
Aims and background
OVG carries out research on vaccines to improve human health. It works to enhance the understanding of immunity, studies the epidemiology of infectious diseases, and conducts clinical trials into new and improved vaccines for children and adults. Research by Richard Moxon into the public health impact of Haemophilus influenzae type b invasive disease in the UK, and efficacy studies of the Hib conjugate vaccine in UK children, led to the founding of OVG in 1994. Since then OVG has particularly specialised in research into meningococcal disease and vaccines to prevent the disease. OVG has been involved with the development of the new vaccine against MenB which was licensed in Europe in 2013. The Group has also carried out research on pneumococcal vaccines, typhoid vaccines and, more recently, new vaccines against Ebola. OVG is a research group within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford. It is a UK Clinical Research Collaboration registered clinical trials unit working in collaboration with the Primary Care Unit Clinical Trials Unit and the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford. It is also a participant in the UK Paediatric Vaccine Group and contributes to the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust’s tertiary Paediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology Service. All OVG trials are listed on the UK Clinical Trials Gateway. OVG supports the All Trials Campaign. Professor Andrew Pollard, OVG’s Director, was appointed Chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in March 2014. Senior staff at OVG are periodically asked to give expert opinions on aspects of vaccines and infectious disease, especially meningococcal disease. For example the 2015 announcement that 14- to 18-year-olds in the UK are to be vaccinated against MenW disease, and the 2012 European Medicines Agency recommendation for approval of a new meningitis B vaccine.
Research activity
Since 2001, OVG has enrolled over 12,500 adults and children into clinical trials in the Thames Valley area of England. OVG research has included:
2003: a study looking at the mid- to long-term effectiveness of the Meningitis C vaccine. This research showed that immunity waned over time, and formed part of the evidence leading to the changes in the UK MenC vaccine schedule in 2013.
2005 onwards: collaborative projects with the paediatric department of Patan Hospital in Nepal, studying children admitted to the hospital with febrile illnesses and cases of typhoid, Haemophilus influenzae type b and pneumonia, and evaluating carriage of Hib disease and Streptococcus pneumoniae.
2006: a study looking at the effectiveness of a new vaccine against the bird flu virus H5N1 in children and adults.
2006: a phase II trial of a new vaccine against MenB disease. This was the first time the vaccine had been used in babies. The trial results were successful and led to phase III trials and ultimately the licensing of the new vaccine, Bexsero, in 2013.
2009: a study comparing the effectiveness of two new vaccines against the swine flu virus H1N1 in children and adults.
2011 onwards: Ongoing participation in an EU Childhood Life-threatening Infectious Disease Study work package looking at genetic responses to MenC and MenB vaccines.
2011 onwards: a series of challenge studies to test new vaccines against typhoid and paratyphoid fever.
In 2011, the group launched the Vaccine Knowledge Project, funded by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The project website aims to provide independent, evidence-based information about vaccines and infectious diseases. The NHS Choices website lists the Vaccine Knowledge website as a recommended external link on several of its pages. The website has also been referenced in the national media in the UK, particularly during the 2014-15 US measles outbreak originating in Disneyland California.
