Danielle I. Stanisic

Regional scientific meetings occupy a distinctive but underexamined position within the research ecosystem. Smaller and more accessible than national congresses, yet broader in scope than institutional seminar programm, they provide opportunities for repeated interactions across institutions, career stages, and research domains. The Brisbane Immunology Group (BIG) meeting is one of the longest‐running and most influential regional meetings associated with the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI), providing a focal point for immunology researchers across Queensland, Australia, and beyond. This article examines the BIG meeting as a case study of a regional immunology community that has sustained scientific engagement, mentoring, and collaboration for 25 years. Drawing on historical records and thematic analysis of interviews with organizers, senior contributors, and recent attendees, we identify six characteristics that have contributed to the longevity and impact of the meeting: accessibility, cross‐institutional ownership, intergenerational participation, social integration, programmatic continuity with adaptive innovation, and deliberate recognition of community contributions. We argue that BIG functions not merely as an annual scientific meeting but as a regional community of practice that supports scientific collaboration, professional identity formation, and leadership development. The BIG experience provides broader lessons regarding the role of regional meetings in strengthening scientific communities, supporting future scientific leaders and sustaining disciplinary vitality.

Founded in 2005, Gallipoli Medical Research (GMR) is a leading independent medical research institute located in Greenslopes, Brisbane, Queensland. GMR strives to enrich and restore lives through pioneering medical research that transcends the laboratory to deliver meaningful and tangible real‐world solutions. In 2006, GMR launched its clinical trials program at one of Australia's largest private hospitals, with the focus on advancing healthcare through innovative treatments and emerging therapies, with a particular focus on oncology, liver, and respiratory diseases. Dr Suzanne Elliott is the Associate Director of Clinical Trials at GMR. Here, Dr Elliott discusses her transition from laboratory‐based research into the clinical trial industry and shares her insight, advice, and pioneering contributions to industry, government, and the clinical trial research landscape across her diverse 30‐year career.

Located in Brisbane's Northshore riverfront precinct, just meters from the iconic Brisbane River, is the new Vaxxas Biomedical Facility. Dr Imogen Bermingham is a Principal Scientist in the Formulation and Analytical Team at Vaxxas, an Australian biotech company focused on developing a needle‐free vaccination technology. Here, we discuss her work at Vaxxas, highlighting the opportunities for translational research within the growing biotech industry landscape in Queensland, Australia. Dr Bermingham also reflects on her transition from academia to industry, leveraging her skill set and expanding her capabilities within the dynamic research environment at Vaxxas.

Malaria is a leading cause of illness and death in children under 5 years of age in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there is no highly efficacious malaria vaccine capable of inducing long-lasting immunity. This has increased interest in exploring different vaccine development strategies, including whole-parasite vaccines, and utilizing more effective adjuvant delivery systems. Here, we evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a whole-parasite Plasmodium yoelii 17X blood-stage vaccine formulated with the clinically tested cationic adjuvant formulation, CAF01. The vaccine protected both inbred and outbred mice, and protected mice from homologous and heterologous challenge infections. Tracking of RBC subsets in vaccinated mice demonstrated that vaccine-induced immunity cleared parasitized normocytes as well as reticulocytes. Infection prior to vaccination led to an augmented level of protection and boosted immunity post vaccination. The vaccine induced parasite-specific IgG, mainly of the IgG1 subclass, and cellular responses, with a mixed Th1/Th2/Th17 cytokine profile. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that CD4 ⁺ T-cells (but not CD8 ⁺ T-cells), and Th1 and Th2 cytokines (interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor, IL-10) were critical in controlling parasitemia and survival following challenge. Vaccinated µMT mice were not protected, suggesting that B-cells also play a role in protective immunity. Depletion of splenic macrophages with clodronate did not affect vaccine efficacy. These pre-clinical findings will inform the transition of this vaccine candidate into clinical trials. IMPORTANCE: Malaria is a devastating disease that has claimed many lives, especially children <5 years of age in Sub-Saharan Africa, as documented in World Malaria Reports by WHO. Even though vector control and chemoprevention tools have helped with elimination efforts in some, if not all, endemic areas, these efforts have been hampered by serious issues (including drug and insecticide resistance and disruption to social cohesion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic). Development of an effective malaria vaccine is the alternative preventative tool in the fight against malaria. Vaccines save millions of lives each year and have helped in elimination and/or eradication of global diseases. Development of a highly efficacious malaria vaccine that will ensure long-lasting protective immunity will be a “game-changing” prevention strategy to finally eradicate the disease. Such a vaccine will need to counteract the significant obstacles that have been hampering subunit vaccine development to date, including antigenic polymorphism, sub-optimal immunogenicity, and waning vaccine efficacy.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Despite significant declines in malaria-attributable morbidity and mortality over the last two decades, it remains a major public health burden in many countries. This underscores the critical need for improved strategies to prevent, treat and control malaria if we are to ultimately progress towards the eradication of this disease. Ideally, this will include the development and deployment of a highly effective malaria vaccine that is able to induce long-lasting protective immunity. There are many malaria vaccine candidates in development, with more than a dozen of these in clinical development. RTS,S/AS01 (also known as Mosquirix) is the most advanced malaria vaccine and was shown to have modest efficacy against clinical malaria in phase III trials in 5- to 17-month-old infants. Following pilot implementation trials, the World Health Organisation has recommended it for use in Africa in young children who are most at risk of infection with P. falciparum, the deadliest of the human malaria parasites. It is well recognised that more effective malaria vaccines are needed. In this review, we discuss malaria vaccine candidates that have progressed into clinical evaluation and highlight the most advanced candidates: Sanaria’s irradiated sporozoite vaccine (PfSPZ Vaccine), the chemoattenuated sporozoite vaccine (PfSPZ-CVac), RTS,S/AS01 and the novel malaria vaccine candidate, R21, which displayed promising, high-level efficacy in a recent small phase IIb trial in Africa.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that is caused by parasites of the genus,Plasmodium. There are seven differentPlasmodiumspp. that can cause malaria in humans, withP. falciparumcausing the majority of the morbidity and mortality.