This course is run jointly by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong. The course is taking place in Hong Kong.
Vaccines are the most effective tool for prevention against many infectious diseases. The last two decades have been called a “golden age” in the development of vaccines. However, many of the vaccines licensed in this era have highly complex immunological, ecological and economic effects. Effective use of these vaccines requires a new generation of public health professionals with multi-disciplinary skills to be able to understand issues around the immunological mechanism, safety, efficacy, effectiveness, population impact, effects on microbiological ecology, delivery, cost-effectiveness and public trust of vaccines.
This Croucher Summer Course is designed to provide graduate students and postdoctoral-level scientists an overview of the basic concepts in vaccinology. Participants will learn about the immunological and epidemiological mechanisms of vaccination, the process of developing vaccines, how to measure the efficacy or effectiveness of vaccines, how vaccines influence disease transmission and herd immunity. We will also discuss basic health economic evaluation of vaccines and risk communication on vaccine acceptability. The course will be taught in English.
Every summer the Croucher Foundation funds short courses that aim to educate and inspire postgraduate students and early career researchers from Hong Kong and the wider region. This summer course is sponsored by Croucher Foundation. It is being run jointly by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong.
- Immunologic principles of vaccination
- Evaluating serological responses induced by vaccination
- Vaccine trials: introduction and planning
- Clinical, virological, serological and internet-based disease surveillance
- Genetic and antigenic disease surveillance based on molecular epidemiology
- Inferring disease burden from surveillance data
- Selecting virus strains for influenza vaccines
- Infectious disease modeling and optimization of vaccination strategies
- Health economic evaluation of vaccination programs
- Health economic evaluation of rotavirus vaccine
- Vaccine acceptability
- Communicating the risks and benefits of vaccines to the public
- Risk communication and lesson from the 2009 influenza pandemic (panel discussion)
- Post-marketing vaccine safety and efficacy surveillance
- Vaccine licensure and trends in China
The University of Hong Kong (HKU)
- Joseph T. Wu (Course Director), Associate Professor, School of Public Health
- Thomas Abraham, Honorary Associate Professor, Journalism and Media Studies Centre
- Benjamin J. Cowling, Professor, School of Public Health
- Tommy T.Y. Lam, Assistant Professor, Centre for Influenza Research, School of Public Health
- Leo L.M. Poon, Professor, School of Public Health
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
- Mark Jit (Course Co-director), Professor of Vaccine Epidemiology
- Pauline Paterson, Research Fellow and Co-leader of The Vaccine Confidence Project
NIH/Fogarty International Center
- Cecile Viboud, Staff Scientist
- Hongjie Yu, Professor, Fudan School of Public Health
The course fee is HK$3,000 which covers the course materials, 5 nights of accommodation (2 participants share 1 room with twin beds), transportation between hotel and course venue, a welcome dinner, a farewell dinner and all breakfasts, lunches and tea breaks during the course. Limited single rooms are available at a higher fee upon special request and subject to approval. Payment should ONLY be made via the online portal upon confirmation of acceptance to the course.
Cancellation must be made by email before 18 May 2018. An administrative fee of 50% of the course fee will be charged if cancellations are made after 18 May 2018. No refund will be made after the course commencement.
CME Accreditations in Hong Kong
CME credits have been applied for practicing doctors who are not taking CME programme for specialists in Hong Kong. One CME point for each hour of completed session is applicable for CME accreditations from Hong Kong Doctors Union, Department of Health, Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and The Hong Kong Medical Association.
A poster session on vaccinology will be held during the course. A number of scholarships are available for participants whose poster abstracts are accepted for presentation in the poster session. The course fee will be waived for all scholarship awardees. In addition, scholarship awardees from Asia and those from elsewhere will receive an airfare subsidy of up to HK$5,000 and HK$12,000, respectively. To apply, please submit an abstract (max 600 words) via the online portal.
Applications should be made online via the online portal with following documents:
1. One-page CV
2. One reference letter
Closing date: 30 April 2018 23:59 EST (successful applicants will be notified by 11 May 2018)
Maximum no. of participants: 35
Who Should Apply?
Early-stage public health and medical professionals and researchers with interests in multi-disciplinary skills of vaccinology are strongly encouraged to apply.