With id.DRIVE´s expansion of scope beyond COVID-19 and broadened studies’ portfolio, we recently extended the breadth of expertise and number of members of our Independent Scientific Committee (ISC).
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Harish Nair, Assoc. Prof. Sheena Sullivan and Prof. Peter Smith are now part of id.DRIVE´s ISC. They have joined Dr. Gabrielle Breugelmans and Prof. Liz Miller who have been with id.DRIVE since its predecessor COVIDRIVE in 2021. We take this opportunity to thank them for their constant support and scientific input over the past years. id.DRIVE’S ISC is now composed of 5 independent members.
Prof. Harish Nair is a key reference for RSV research and leads the Respiratory Viral Epidemiology research programme at the University of Edinburgh. He currently leads or co-coordinates several RSV-related networks or consortiums, such as PROMISE (Preparing for RSV Immunisation and Surveillance in Europe), RESCEU (REspiratory Syncytial virus Consortium in EUrope) and RSV GEN (Respiratory Virus Global Epidemiology Network) and has developed global, national and regional estimates for RSV in children as well as older adults.
Assoc. Prof. Sheena Sullivan is an infectious diseases epidemiologist whose work focusses on routine estimation of influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE), the validity of study designs used to estimate it and understanding the underlying immunological mechanisms that drive VE estimates. She has acted as a technical expert to the WHO on influenza vaccination policy, the design of VE studies, respiratory disease surveillance and disease burden estimation.
Peter Smith, Professor of Tropical Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has led multiple epidemiology and infectious diseases departments and groups since he joined LSHTM in 1979. He has served on, or chaireds, several international scientific advisory committees for tropical diseases and vaccination, including EDCTP and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working groups on dengue, malaria and on SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
We extend a warm welcome to Harish, Sheena and Peter to the team and look forward to benefiting from their experience and scientific input.