Researchers in the OU's Faculty of Maths, Computing and Technology (MCT) are partners in a large EU public-private partnership to monitor the safety and efficacy of vaccinations.
The €5 million project, Accelerated Development of Vaccine Benefit-risk Collaboration in Europe (ADVANCE) is funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative. There are also 18 associate partners including Public Health England and several other major European public health institutes. Professor Paddy Farrington, who already works with Public Health England on vaccine safety, leads the OU team.
The aim of the project is to develop Europe-wide strategies for rapid assessment of benefit and risk of vaccines. One of the OU's contributions will be to review available monitoring systems for vaccine efficacy and safety.