London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

In just a few years, vaccines have gone from decade long projects to candidates designed in weeks and tested in large trials within months. mRNA platforms, in particular, have shown how quickly we can move from sequence to scalable production, and are now being explored for a range of infectious diseases. Yet, when you step back from the canvas of research and development, the picture is less finished: programmes still struggle with familiar brushstrokes of variable uptake, uneven coverage and the challenge of fitting new technologies into real health systems.

In this session, Dr Philip Cruz will take a fresh look at where vaccines really stand today: what has changed about how we develop them, what still hasn’t changed about how we use them, and how to think about concepts like immune memory, layered protection and correlates of protection in everyday programme decisions. Drawing on experience from clinical development and implementation in the UK and beyond, he will explore how to connect rapid platforms, regulatory science and real world delivery so that future vaccines are not only fast and effective on paper, but also practical and impactful in practice.

The event is aimed at anyone with an interest in vaccines, from students and early career researchers to clinicians, policy makers and seasoned specialists, and will include time for a Q&A.

Speaker 

Dr Philip Cruz

Dr Philip Cruz is the Country Medical Director of Moderna in the United Kingdom and a fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. He has led medical strategies and clinical research programmes across several multinational companies and is a visiting lecturer in medical affairs at King’s College London, with a particular interest in vaccinology and mRNA technologies.

Event notices

• Please note that you can join this event in person or you can join the session remotely
• Please note that the recording link will be listed on this page when available