Biography
Madi Farrar is a Senior Research Nurse working within the Liverpool Vaccine Group. She manages staff within the clinical team and co-ordinates the delivery of both academic and commercial clinical trials in the research clinic.
Her background is in accident and emergency nursing. Transitioning from a fast-paced clinical environment to research has allowed her to apply her skills in setting up efficient processes for clinical trials. This ensures smooth operations and enable the team to manage large participant cohorts while maintaining high standards of clinical practice.
Madi is passionate about optimising the experience of clinical trial participants by upholding rigorous clinical standards and ensuring staff compliance with good clinical practice. This fosters participant trust and retention, which is crucial for successful study outcomes. Additionally, she oversees staff education on topics such as informed consent and specialist clinical sampling techniques.
Research interests
Madi’s research interests focus on controlled human infection models and vaccine trials for infectious diseases. Controlled human infection models provide a cost-effective approach to accelerating vaccine development compared to traditional clinical trials.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she coordinated studies in the Accelerator Research Clinic, including achieving highest recruiting site for the Oxford Vaccine trials, ensuring efficient study execution and participant safety.
Having previously completed a course in professional leadership, Madi is currently enrolled on the Principal Investigator Pipeline Programme with the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This course enhances research skills and develops participants ability to be a principal investigator.
Selected research publications
The effect of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine on nasopharyngeal colonisation following human infection challenge with serotype 3 and serotype 6B (PREVENTING PNEUMO 2): a double-masked, randomised, controlled, phase 4 trial – Journal: The Lancet Microbe – Published: 13th February 2026
RSV and rhinovirus increase pneumococcal carriage acquisition and density, whereas nasal inflammation is associated with bacterial shedding. – Journal: Cell Host and Microbe – Published: 17th August 2024
A feasibility study of controlled human infection with intradermal Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) injection: Pilot BCG controlled human infection model – Journal: Wellcome Open Research – Published: 5th June 2024
Serotype 3 Experimental Human Pneumococcal Challenge (EHPC) study protocol: dose ranging and reproducibility in a healthy volunteer population (challenge 3) – Journal: BMJ Open – Published: 10th January 2024
Respiratory mucosal immune memory to SARS-CoV-2 after infection and vaccination – Journal: Nature Communications – Published: 26th October 2023
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