Welcome to our fifth issue of Vaccines Beat. We are excited to continue our mission of communicating, educating, and promoting knowledge in the fields of vaccinology and vaccination.
In our ‘Coffee with an Expert’ section, we are deeply honored to feature an interview with Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, a renowned global expert in Polio. Dr. Bandyopadhyay grew up in Kolkata, India and completed his medical graduation from Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital (2005) with a gold medal and several honors certificates. He received his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Global Health from Harvard School of Public Health (2010).
In his professional career spanning more than 15 years, Ananda has worked in diverse settings and has led disease control initiatives across the globe. He worked as a Surveillance Medical Officer with National Polio Surveillance Project, WHO and contributed to India’s polio elimination effort and measles surveillance initiatives. Based out of Seattle, United States, Ananda in his current role as a Deputy Director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation coordinates global research to facilitate polio eradication. His work on clinical development of novel vaccines and polio endgame vaccination schedules along with his research to enhance polio environmental surveillance have been impactful in global policy formulation and have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals.
Ananda is associated with advanced degree programs in public health and vaccinology in several globally renowned teaching venues as a guest faculty.
Our Editor’s Corner explores how vaccines play a vital role in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It provides an overview of AMR mechanisms, its overall impact, also explains how vaccines contribute to its prevention, and highlights the current WHO priority vaccines aimed at addressing this global challenge.
Our Best Practice section delves into the current and somewhat controversial 1+1 pneumococcal vaccination schedule for children in the United Kingdom.
In the “Guest Contributors” section we have an article that features a groundbreaking initiative from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In response to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and their mRNA Technology Transfer Hub Program, this initiative aims at reducing reliance on limited vaccine suppliers by enabling local manufacturers in LMICs by establishing a sustainable framework for developing vaccines against infectious diseases independently.
As always, this issue features carefully curated and up-to-date information on the ‘Latest Scientific Publications’ along with the most recent and important ‘News and Alerts’.
We hope you find this November issue informative and engaging, and we look forward to continuing this unique effort in support of a healthier planet.
