A report from GHTC and Policy Cures Research examines how US federal funding for global health R&D is delivering impact both abroad and at home.

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Faces of Innovation: Dr. Heinz Weidenthaler, researcher at Bavarian Nordic

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Faces of Innovation—a new GHTC project that features scientists on the front lines of research and development on new global health tools and technologies—profiles Dr. Heinz Weidenthaler, who we met at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Conference, who developed a smallpox and monkeypox vaccine with Bavarian Nordic.

November 22, 2019 by Marissa Chmiola

Faces of Innovation—a new GHTC project that features scientists on the front lines of research and development on new global health tools and technologies—profiles Dr. Heinz Weidenthaler, who we met at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Conference, who developed a smallpox and monkeypox vaccine with Bavarian Nordic.

My name: Heinz Weidenthaler, MD

Where I work: Bavarian Nordic, which is headquartered in Denmark and has offices in Morrisville, North Carolina

I’m funded by: Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

My research: I am a medical doctor by training working for a company called Bavarian Nordic…We have done quite an extensive program in developing a smallpox and monkeypox vaccine with support of several federal agencies of the US, mostly BARDA, who has funded most of our clinical trials and helped us really tremendously throughout the development of this product. There were other contributions, NIH NIAID [National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] provided support in specifically running several of the clinical trials that finally led to licensure of the product. The Department of Defense was incredibly helpful in running the key pivotal phase III trial, via USAMRIID [US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases]. We also have a collaboration with CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], who is using our product in a study right now in the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC].

It is intended to be a safer alternative smallpox vaccine, which means it can protect the public, of course, both in America, but also on a global basis. Smallpox is a global threat, not a national threat at a given country…We received US licensure not only for smallpox, but also for monkeypox. There the global impact really comes in because the current epidemiology of monkeypox is endemic in several African countries like the DRC and Nigeria. This is something that, there will be an impact as soon as it is able to be deployed there. This is running right now with the CDC study in DRC, that could really save lives by preventing infections in these areas.

Motivation: I’m a medical doctor by training and joined the pharma/biotech industry quite a while ago, and instead of just working on another blood pressure pill that would be generic a few years later, I think working in the pox virus vaccine sphere really has an impact on saving lives. And doing that with the help of government funding, in terms of a really successful public private partnership here, I think is a tremendous success, and being part of that, and helping in the clinical development of our vaccine is really a motivating thing because it just has an impact of peoples’ lives.

Why federal support is critical: Global health is affecting all countries, including the US. Last year, we had these cases from Nigeria, people who were bringing cases of monkeypox, transmitting them to the UK, to Singapore, to Israel. The world is so globally connected, and infectious diseases that are endemic in sub-Saharan African countries can be anywhere in the world 24 hours later. I think this has a really huge impact on being prepared for all scenarios, and is of critical importance for the health of individuals worldwide, including the US.

When I’m not in the lab: I take care of my family. I have three kids back home. I try to be there as much as possible, which is not always easy, but I enjoy the time back home with my kids. I try to do some kinds of sports as far as I find the time for that. I play volleyball quite frequently.

Categories: CDC, DoD, Faces of Innovation, NIH

About the author

Marissa ChmiolaGHTC

Marissa manages the development and implementation of the coalition’s communications activities, overseeing GHTC’s digital presence, media outreach, events, publications, and internal communication practices. She also manages GHTC's monitoring, evaluation, and adaptive learning and donor reporting...read more about this author

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November 22, 2019

Faces of Innovation: Dr. Christine Petersen, researcher at University of Iowa

Written by Ansley Kahn / GHTC
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Faces of Innovation—a new GHTC project that features scientists on the front lines of research and development on new global health tools and technologies—profiles Dr. Christine Petersen, who we met at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Conference, who researches how infectious diseases transmit between animals and people at the University of Iowa.My Name: Christine Petersen, DVM, PhD.Where I work: Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. I’m funded by: National Institutes of Health. My research: My work is funded by the National Institutes of Health to help figure out how infectious diseases transmit between animals and people. As someone who lives in Iowa, where there’s six pigs for every person, it’s critical to understand those interactions between animals and people. Infectious diseases can be everything from the flu that we all get our shots for to parasitic diseases, like malaria, that affect anybody who travels and goes to places for work or for play.Motivation: I was one of those kids who watched nature shows growing up and loved them. I always wanted to go and work with these amazing animals around the planet. It turns out those amazing animals gives diseases to the people that live with them or use them as a food source. In 1996, when 30 percent of the population in Kenya were dying of AIDS, most of them were dying of diseases they likely acquired from the very livestock that helps keep them alive. I wanted to be able to help those animals to stay healthier so the people could stay healthier.  Why federal support is critical: It’s critical for policymakers to support global health research because we can’t separate where animals come from. We do not have borders that keep animals of all species out of this country. Like it or not, we share diseases with those animals. We need those animals to eat, to be our friends, and to make our lives happy. But all of us have diseases that we share, and we need to prevent them from making the animals sick and us sick. When I’m not in the lab: Not surprisingly, given the other things I’ve said, I do have two dogs, two cats, some fish, and some snails thanks to my ten-year-old daughter’s class. I love running with the dogs, going on hikes, and going kayaking. 
GHTC
November 22, 2019

Faces of Innovation: Dr. James Mutunga, researcher at the US Army Medical Research Directorate

Written by Emily Conron / GHTC
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Faces of Innovation—a new GHTC project that features scientists on the front lines of research and development on new global health tools and technologies—profiles Dr. James Mutunga, who we met at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Conference, who does research on developing and testing new methods of controlling vector-borne diseases as well as pathogen surveillance in arthropod disease vectors at the US Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa in Kisumu, Kenya. My Name: James Mutunga, PhDWhere I work: US Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa in Kisumu, KenyaI’m funded by: US DoDThe views I express here are my own and do not and are not to be construed as official, or as reflecting true views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. My research: I work on surveillance for vectors—that is, arthropod disease vectors. I work in the Entomology lab in Kisumu. Under the surveillance program, we do collection of field samples of mosquitoes, ticks, mites, fleas, any arthropod that we can imagine, sandflies included—we bring them to the lab and we do pathogen testing to detect diseases that they may carry. We also do morphological and molecular identification of these vectors. Eventually, what we create is a heat map of potential pathogens in circulation and the areas they are circulating so we can advise on the areas that are high-risk and therefore give this information to the US Army for deployment purposes, and protection. The vectors we currently mostly target are mosquito vectors. These transmit malaria, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and many other different diseases. Motivation: A couple of years ago, I worked for a research institution that primarily researches on arthropod vectors called the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology, based in Nairobi, Kenya. And from there, my passion for mosquito research transitioned to what I undertook for my masters and my PhD. I undertook my PhD at Virginia Tech here in the US, and I worked on developing new carbamate molecules and testing them for malaria control. So that kind of invoked my passion, given that it is a disease [with] a broad burden [in] the world. That still is the focus of the work that I do, and I enjoy it.Why federal support is critical: The work we do, and the many years that the US government has invested in vector-borne disease research and control, is commendable. We still do not want to relent. We are facing challenges in vector control. We are having problems [with] insecticide resistance, we are having problems of changing vector behavior, and therefore, the investment in terms of financial support for researchers in the US—and all over the world—is more than needed. We are having challenges with the issues of climate change and habitat change—places that never used to have disease transmission are actually now having active indigenous transmission and therefore there is a need to continue investing and ensuring that policies that are being made to support this research.When I’m not in the lab: I spend time with family, friends. I like traveling, doing road trips. I also like charity work.