Sarah Gilbert

Sarah Catherine Gilbert (born April 1962) is a British vaccinologist who is Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford and co-founder of Vaccitech.[2][3][4][5][6] Gilbert specialises in the development of vaccines against influenza and emerging viral pathogens.[7] She led the development and testing of the universal flu vaccine, which underwent clinical trials in 2011. In April 2020, Gilbert claimed that with more funding, she could deliver a COVID-19 vaccine by September 2020.

For the American actress, see Sara Gilbert.
Sarah Gilbert
Born
Sarah Catherine Gilbert

April 1962 (age 58)
Alma materUniversity of East Anglia (BSc)
University of Hull (PhD)
Known forVaccinology
Scientific career
FieldsVaccines[1]
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford
Vaccitech
Delta Biotechnology
ThesisStudies on lipid accumulation and genetics of Rhodosporidium toruloides (1986)
Websitewww.jenner.ac.uk/team/sarah-gilbert

Early life and education

Gilbert attended Kettering High School, where she realised that she wanted to work in medicine.[8] She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences, from the University of East Anglia, and moved to the University of Hull for her doctoral degree, where she investigated the genetics and biochemistry of the yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides.[9][8]

Research and career

After earning her doctoral degree Gilbert worked as a postdoctoral researcher in industry at the Brewing Industry Research Foundation before moving to the Leicester Biocentre. Gilbert eventually joined Delta Biotechnology, a biopharmaceutical company that manufactured drugs in Nottingham.[8] In 1994, Gilbert returned to academia, joining the laboratory of Adrian V. S. Hill. Her early research considered host–parasite interactions in malaria.[8] She was made a Reader in Vaccinology at the University of Oxford in 2004.[8] She was made Professor at the Jenner Institute in 2010. With the support of the Wellcome Trust, Gilbert started work on the design and creation of novel influenza vaccinations.[8] In particular, her research considers the development and preclinical testing of viral vaccinations, which embed a pathogenic protein inside a safe virus.[10][11] These viral vaccinations induce a T cell response, which can be used against viral diseases, malaria and cancer.[10]

Graphical representation of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses.

Gilbert was involved with the development and testing of the universal flu vaccine. Unlike conventional vaccinations, the universal flu vaccine did not stimulate the production of antibodies, but instead triggers the immune system to create T cells that are specific for influenza.[12] It makes use of one of the core proteins (nucleoprotein and matrix protein 1) inside the Influenza A virus, not the external proteins that exist on the outside coat.[13] As the immune system weakens with age, conventional vaccinations are not effective for elderly. The universal flu vaccine does not need to be reformatted every year and stops people from needing a seasonal flu vaccine.[13] Her first clinical trials, which were in 2008, made use of the Influenza A virus subtype H3N2, and included daily monitoring of the patient's symptoms.[13][14] It was the first study that it was possible to stimulate T cells in response to a flu virus, and that this stimulation would protect people from getting the flu.[13] Her research has demonstrated that the adenoviral vector ChAdOx1 can be used to make vaccinations that are protective against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in mice and able to induce immune response against MERS in humans.[15][16] The same vector was also used to create a vaccine against Nipah which was effective in hamsters (but never proven in humans),[17] in addition to a potential vaccine for Rift Valley Fever that was protective in sheep, goats, and cattle (but not proven in humans).[18]

Gilbert has been involved with the development of a new vaccination to protect against coronavirus since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.[19][20][21][2] She leads the work on this vaccine candidate alongside Andrew Pollard, Teresa Lambe, Sandy Douglas, Catherine Green and Adrian Hill.[22] As with her earlier work, the COVID-19 vaccine makes use of an adenoviral vector, which stimulates an immune response against the coronavirus spike protein.[19][20] Plans were announced to start animal studies in March 2020, and recruitment began of 510 human participants for a phase I/II trial on 27 March.[23][24][25] In April 2020, Gilbert was reported as saying that her candidate vaccine could be available by September 2020,[26] if everything goes to plan with the clinical trial, which has received funding from sources such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.[27] In April 2020, she was interviewed about the developments by Andrew Marr on BBC television.[28] Because of her vaccine research, in May 2020, Gilbert featured on The Times' 'Science Power List'.[29]

Selected publications

According to Google Scholar, Gilbert has an h-index of 80.[1] Her publications[1][30][31] include:

  • Schneider, Jörg; Gilbert, Sarah C.; Blanchard, Tom J.; Hanke, Tomas; Robson, Kathryn J.; Hannan, Carolyn M.; Becker, Marion; Sinden, Robert; Smith, Geoffrey L.; Hill, Adrian V.S. (1998). "Enhanced immunogenicity for CD8+ T cell induction and complete protective efficacy of malaria DNA vaccination by boosting with modified vaccinia virus Ankara". Nature Medicine. 4 (4): 397–402. doi:10.1038/nm0498-397. ISSN 1078-8956. PMID 9546783.
  • McShane, H; Pathan, A A; Sander, C R; Keating, S M; Gilbert, S C; Huygen, K; Fletcher, H A; Hill, A V S (December 2004). "Erratum: Recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara expressing antigen 85A boosts BCG-primed and naturally acquired antimycobacterial immunity in humans". Nature Medicine. 10 (12): 1397–1397. doi:10.1038/nm1204-1397a. ISSN 1078-8956.
  • McConkey, Samuel J.; Reece, William H. H.; Moorthy, Vasee S.; Webster, Daniel; Dunachie, Susanna; Butcher, Geoff; Vuola, Jenni M.; Blanchard, Tom J.; Gothard, Philip; Watkins, Kate; Hannan, Carolyn M. (2003). "Enhanced T-cell immunogenicity of plasmid DNA vaccines boosted by recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara in humans". Nature Medicine. 9 (6): 729–735. doi:10.1038/nm881. ISSN 1546-170X. PMID 12766765.
  • Gilbert, S. C. (1998-02-20). "Association of Malaria Parasite Population Structure, HLA, and Immunological Antagonism". Science. 279 (5354): 1173–1177. doi:10.1126/science.279.5354.1173. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 9469800.

Personal life

Gilbert gave birth to triplets in 1998. Her partner gave up his career to be their primary carer.[8][32]

gollark: ```The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.```This fourth amendment thingy does sound slightly relevant.
gollark: And this *could easily be* and is *already a breach of privacy*.
gollark: Yes, that is also bad.
gollark: And because the UK has similar things and "intelligence" sharing.
gollark: Because it's international surveillance, obviously.

References
  1. Sarah Gilbert publications indexed by Google Scholar
  2. Lane, Richard (2020). "Sarah Gilbert: carving a path towards a COVID-19 vaccine". The Lancet. 395 (10232): 1247. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30796-0. PMC 7162644. PMID 32305089.
  3. "Sarah Gilbert - Nuffield Department of Medicine". ndm.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  4. "Professor Sarah Gilbert". oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk. University of Oxford. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  5. "Professor Sarah Gilbert | University of Oxford". ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  6. "Our Team". vaccitech.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  7. "Professor Sarah Gilbert | Hic Vac". www.hic-vac.org.
  8. Admin. "Professor Sarah Gilbert". Working for NDM. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  9. Gilbert, Sarah Catherine (1986). Studies on lipid accumulaltion and genetics of Rhodosporidium toruloides. jisc.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Hull. OCLC 499901226. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.381881.
  10. "Sarah Gilbert: Viral Vectored Vaccines — Nuffield Department of Medicine". ndm.medsci.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  11. "Professor Sarah Gilbert | Hic Vac". hic-vac.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  12. "World-First Trial for Universal Flu Vaccine". Splice. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  13. Jha, Alok; correspondent, science (2011-02-06). "Flu breakthrough promises a vaccine to kill all strains". theguardian.com. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  14. "Sarah Gilbert — The Jenner Institute". jenner.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  15. Munster, Vincent J.; Wells, Daniel; Lambe, Teresa; Wright, Daniel; Fischer, Robert J.; Bushmaker, Trenton; Saturday, Greg; van Doremalen, Neeltje; Gilbert, Sarah C.; de Wit, Emmie; Warimwe, George M. (2017). "Protective efficacy of a novel simian adenovirus vaccine against lethal MERS-CoV challenge in a transgenic human DPP4 mouse model". npj Vaccines. 2 (1). doi:10.1038/s41541-017-0029-1. ISSN 2059-0105. PMC 5643297. PMID 29263883.
  16. "New MERS Coronavirus vaccine clinical trial starts in Saudi Arabia". December 20, 2019.
  17. Halstead, Scott B.; van Doremalen, Neeltje; Lambe, Teresa; Sebastian, Sarah; Bushmaker, Trenton; Fischer, Robert; Feldmann, Friederike; Haddock, Elaine; Letko, Michael; Avanzato, Victoria A.; Rissanen, Ilona; LaCasse, Rachel; Scott, Dana; Bowden, Thomas A.; Gilbert, Sarah; Munster, Vincent (2019). "A single-dose ChAdOx1-vectored vaccine provides complete protection against Nipah Bangladesh and Malaysia in Syrian golden hamsters". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 13 (6): e0007462. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007462. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 6581282. PMID 31170144.
  18. Warimwe, George M.; Gesharisha, Joseph; Carr, B. Veronica; Otieno, Simeon; Otingah, Kennedy; Wright, Danny; Charleston, Bryan; Okoth, Edward; Elena, Lopez-Gil; Lorenzo, Gema; Ayman, El-Behiry; Alharbi, Naif K.; Al-dubaib, Musaad A.; Brun, Alejandro; Gilbert, Sarah C.; Nene, Vishvanath; Hill, Adrian V. S. (2016). "Chimpanzee Adenovirus Vaccine Provides Multispecies Protection against Rift Valley Fever". Scientific Reports. 6 (1). doi:10.1038/srep20617. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4742904. PMID 26847478.
  19. "Two groups of UK scientists in race to develop coronavirus vaccine". Evening Standard. 2020-02-07. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  20. "Vaccine trials among recipients of £20 million coronavirus research investment". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  21. "Oxford team to begin novel coronavirus vaccine research | University of Oxford". ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  22. "COVID-19 Vaccine Trials | COVID-19". covid19vaccinetrial.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  23. Sample, Ian (2020-03-19). "Trials to begin on Covid-19 vaccine in UK next month". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  24. Robson, Steve (2020-03-20). "British scientists hope to start coronavirus vaccine trials next month". manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  25. "UK scientists enrol volunteers for coronavirus vaccine trial". theguardian.com. The Guardian. 17 March 2020.
  26. hermesauto (2020-04-11). "Coronavirus vaccine could be ready in six months, says UK scientist". straitstimes.com. The Straits Times. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  27. Stephanie Baker (30 March 2020). "How Top Scientists Are Racing to Beat the Coronavirus". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  28. "Prof Sarah Gilbert: Coronavirus vaccine trials to start within days". The Andrew Marr Show. UK: BBC One. 19 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  29. Franklin-Wallis, Oliver (23 May 2020). "From pandemics to cancer: the science power list". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  30. Sarah Gilbert publications from Europe PubMed Central
  31. Publications by Sarah Gilbert, at ResearchGate
  32. "Working for NDM: Professor Sarah Gilbert". Nuffield Department of Medicine. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
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