Vaccines are one of our most powerful tools in the fight against infectious disease, as abundantly demonstrated in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, where vaccination has offered good protection against severe disease. Despite these successes, there remains a critical need for fundamental research to underpin future vaccine development. With SARS-CoV-2, there is clear evidence of waning protection against infection from first-generation vaccines, driving the emergence of new variants capable of further escaping existing immunity.
More broadly, key questions remain unanswered about the nature and drivers of pathogen evolution and immune responses to vaccination. Without this knowledge, we cannot overcome the barriers to development of next-generation vaccines with broader, more durable and, optimally, transmission-blocking efficacy.
With this in mind, the purpose of this funding opportunity is to support consortia to tackle these questions. The funding available will support the creation of at least 2 consortia, each funded for up to 5 years. They will each focus on 1 of 2 complementary themes listed below and are each expected to deliver a coordinated portfolio of innovative discovery research, aligned to an ambitious vision and a robust, clearly articulated governance structure.
1. Fundamental virology: drivers and impact of variant emergence
Viral evolution can have enormous effects on public health by changing pathogen virulence, transmissibility and immune evasion.
Building understanding of the factors that drive variant emergence, alongside understanding of the phenotypic consequences of changes to viral genomes, therefore offers a compelling opportunity for impactful research to inform future public health strategies and translational development programmes.
Key research areas of focus for the consortium may include, for example:
- mechanisms underpinning changes in disease transmission and immune escape
- predicting disease severity from virus mutation profiles
- understanding mutation accumulation in targeted immunosuppressed groups to predict evolution
- assessing viral antigen stability and functionality
Medium-term outputs should aim for:
- deep mapping and understanding of viral structures, antigen stability and functionality
- in the context of SAS-CoV-2, enhanced capacity to rapidly identify potentially harmful new variants as they arise and to predict potential dangers in advance
2. Underpinning immunology to support vaccinology
Understanding the immunological response to vaccination and disease is needed to focus vaccine development on those pathways most tractable for sustained immunity.
In the context of SARS-CoV-2 (and other respiratory pathogens), improving the breadth, duration and site of action of immune responses, particularly in the upper airways, is vital to restrict disease transmission and deliver long-term pathogen control.
Key research areas of focus for the consortium may include, for example:
- understanding the drivers of sustained and broad immunity
- targeting mucosal responses
- improving the breadth of protective immunological responses
- development of reliable correlates of protection to support early vaccine development
- building understanding of the mechanisms of partial or failed vaccine responses in vulnerable patient groups
Medium-term outputs should aim for:
- enriched understanding of immune responses and clinical risk factors
- enhanced capability to support, amplify and explain immunophenotyping work
- novel tools and platforms to underpin future vaccine development
Across both consortia, in the longer term, we aim to:
- enable next-generation pan-coronavirus vaccines
- establish networks of virologists and immunologists with capacity and tools to rapidly investigate emergent pathogens
- build strong, bidirectional links with vaccine, therapeutic and diagnostic developers
We expect that the consortia will initially focus on SARS-CoV-2, levering the substantial investment and remaining public health need around COVID-19, with a clear pathway to diversify their focus in the longer term to addressing a broader range of other important pathogens.
Although applications should focus on 1 of the 2 themes, we acknowledge that there may be overlapping areas of interest. In particular, virology consortia may appropriately include a substantial immunology component, for example evaluating the impact of host immune responses on viral evolution.
In contrast, an immunology consortium should focus instead on the underpinning immunology of responses to vaccination and infection, seeking to elucidate fundamental immunological pathways within the host.
We are looking for applications proposing coordinated, multidisciplinary consortia with strong links to public health infrastructure, other UK Research and Innovation investments, industry partners and vaccine development resources. Please note that we expect successful applicants to start their awards no later than September 2023.
Note: The introductory talks and question and answer session from our proactive vaccinology workshop (held on 22 September 2022) were recorded. You can request the link to the recording by emailing vaccinology2@mrc.ukri.org
To facilitate the identification of potential collaborators to include in your application, we are collating contact details and a description of your expertise onto a secure document that can be accessed upon request. If you would like your information to be added onto the list (and wish to have visibility of the document), please send an email to the same address.
We are expecting proposals that fall into the remits of the Infections and Immunity Board or Experimental Medicine Panel but at a scale and breadth which could not be supported by the usual research grant or programme grant funding.
Proposals seeking funding for the development of new vaccine candidates are not eligible for this opportunity. These projects may fall within the remit of the Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme.
What we will fund
The limit to the funding you can apply for is £8 million. We will usually fund up to 80% of your project’s full economic cost (following full economic costing principles).
You can request funding for costs such as:
- a contribution to the salary of the principal investigator and co-investigators
- support for other posts such as researchers, technical staff or project managers
- research consumables
- equipment
- travel costs
- data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs
- estates and indirect costs
We will not fund:
- research involving randomised trials of clinical treatments
- funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants
- costs for PhD studentships
- publication or patent costs
