Tiong Tan

I am a DPhil student in the Gene Medicine Research Group and Wolfson College, working under the joint supervision of Prof Stephen Hyde and Prof Deborah Gill. My research focusses on the development of viral vectors for passive immunisation against Influenza and Ebola.

Conventional vaccines against Influenza often have low efficacy especially in the elderly and immunocompromised patients and require annual reformulation to keep in pace with the antigenic evolution of the flu virus and there is no licensed Ebola vaccine to date.  Through collaboration with Prof Alain Townsend, I obtained some potent influenza and Ebola antibodies he isolated from vaccinated donors. I am investigating the feasibility of using viral vectors to deliver genes encoding these antibodies into the lung or muscle and turn these organs into 'antibody factory' to provide protection.  

This platform could potentially serve as a more cost-effective, time-responsive and long lasting approach to provide immunisation against infectious diseases.