LSTM’s Dr Simon Jochems has been honoured during the 10th International Symposium on Pneumococci & Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD) in Glasgow this week as he was awarded a Robert Austrian Research Award.
Dr Jochems was one of eight researchers who received the prestigious award, which is accompanied by $32,500 USD. Sponsored by pharmaceutical company Pfizer, the awards are designed to promote research in field of pneumococcal vaccinology and are based on research proposals submitted by scientists under the age of 40. His project will now examine using LSTM’s unique Experimental Human Pneumococcal Challenge model to establish if immune responses to pneumococcus in the nose can predict where someone is susceptible to carriage, in order to establish that carriage in the nose is a prerequisite to transmission of the bacteria and pneumococcal disease.
Dr Jochems will be invited back the 11th ISPPD, which will be held in Melbourne Australia, to present his results and it is hoped that his work will help facilitate LSTM’s drive to develop a universal pneumococcal vaccine. He said: “I am delighted to have been honoured in such a way and I hope that the work that this award allows me to do will contribute to the development of a universal vaccine. LSTM’s unique model means that we have opportunities never before seen, to examine the implications of carriage in a controlled and completely safe way. I am excited about what this next two years will bring, and I am happy to be working with colleagues to fulfil LSTM’s mission of developing effective interventions that will benefit the health of people living in some of the world’s poorest communities.”
The Symposium also saw 12 accepted abstracts from LSTM seven of which were selected for oral presentation as part of the scientific programme.