USU Hosts International Vaccine Manufacturing Training
Thursday, Apr. 26, 2012
Project directors Kamal Rashid and Bart Tarbet.
Visiting scientists receive instruction on bioreactors and cell culture scale-up.
Eighteen scientists from around the world will come to Logan this week to attend a three-week course in vaccine manufacturing, which is the second of its kind to take place at Utah State University.
The program is part of the World Health Organizations’ (WHO) initiative to train developing countries in influenza vaccine manufacturing techniques. This training is part of a worldwide effort to fight a global flu pandemic. Funding for the program comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Attendees of this year’s training come from Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, South Africa and Vietnam.
“We are excited to bring a second group of international trainees to USU,”said Kenneth White, interim director of USU’s Center for Integrated BioSystems (CIB). “This program demonstrates the important contribution USU is making to global biotechnology and vaccine manufacturing training.”
Two USU faculty members, Kamal Rashid and Bart Tarbet, received a multi–year grant from BARDA to lead the program. Both professors have extensive experience in bioprocessing/ biotechnology education and vaccine development.
“Our recent travels to workshops in South Africa and Serbia sponsored by WHO have helped us respond better to the needs and demands of the participating countries and plan for future training programs” said Kamal Rashid, project director.
While at USU, the trainees will participate in a combination of science-supported instruction and hands-on laboratory training in vaccine production. These techniques will help them develop procedures for the production of vaccines in their home countries.
“We had a very successful training program last year,” said Bart Tarbet, co-project director. “We’ve used feedback from last year’s participants to improve on this year’s program.”
The training program is conducted at the Center for Integrated BioSystems and involves faculty and staff from the CIB and the Institute for Antiviral Research, both from the College of Agriculture at USU.
Related links:
USU Center for Integrated BioSystems
USU Institute for Antiviral Research
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ BARDA
Contact: Dr. Kamal A. Rashid, (435) 797-2739, kamal.rashid@usu.edu; Dr. E. Bart Tarbet, (435) 797-3954, bart.tarbet@usu.edu
Writer: Jeannine Huenemann, (435) 797-8274, jeannine.huenemann@usu.edu
