Global health R&D at work in Kansas
Researchers at the University of Kansas (KU) are working to reformulate vaccines to make them more suitable for delivery in the world’s poorest places. The team explores ways to tweak the formulations of vaccines to reduce manufacturing and material costs, extend their shelf life, eliminate the need for refrigeration, enable oral or needle-free delivery, or even allow them to be combined with other vaccines into multi-disease fighting shots. Their goal is to produce vaccines that are less expensive to manufacture and more capable of surviving harsh conditions along the “last mile” journey to reach patients. Affordable and reliable vaccines are a crucial element of disease prevention programs around the world. Delivered effectively, they can save lives and improve the health of entire populations.