“Dare to ask questions: you will gain visibility”

'Health in motion' is a broad theme. How does your own research fit in?

THAO-THY: Mobility can mean patients who migrate, a pathogen that moves through the body, or a pathogen that spreads across geographic regions. My work focuses on the human immune response to parasitic diseases. Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease, but it occurs in almost 100 countries, including southern Spain and southern France. In our unit, we focus on patient immuno-monitoring and vaccine development. For example, to design a vaccine, you first need to understand which immune response protects, so that the vaccine can mimic this. Other colleagues in our unit work on Ebola and yellow fever, with vaccine immunology as the common thread.

You moved from malaria to leishmaniasis. What is the difference between these two parasitic diseases?

THAO-THY: The parasite and the clinical disease are different, but the questions are similar: how does the immune system respond, and what does it take to protect someone? However, I went from experimental mouse models to clinical sciences, and from general immune response to more in-depth molecular mechanisms using advanced methodologies, so the switch was a steep learning curve. Much of my work is now with our partners in Ethiopia, which is also why I am happy to help organise the colloquium in Addis Ababa.

Is there a vaccine against leishmaniasis?

THAO-THY: For humans there is no vaccine yet, although many people are working on it. The problem is what we call the “valley of death”: the step from promising preclinical work, for example in mouse models, to an effective vaccine in clinical trials. Compared to tuberculosis vaccine research, with dozens of vaccine candidates in active trials, leishmaniasis unfortunately has received little funding. Historically, for leishmaniasis, there have been fewer than ten candidates in trials, and they have all failed to show efficacy.

How do you try to bridge that gap?

THAO-THY: We are looking for biomarkers, so-called correlates of protection. Phase 3 clinical trials need thousands of volunteers, and that is what makes them so expensive. If we can show earlier that a vaccine induces a protective response, we can recruit fewer people and bring the costs down. Another change is the shift to mRNA vaccines. Thanks to the investment during COVID, these next-generation vaccines are cheaper to produce, and they can also be manufactured locally. We are currently working with our partners in Ethiopia to develop a new Leishmania vaccine.

What do you hope participants take home?

THAO-THY: Collaborations, new ideas and inspiration. I usually leave a conference with many new contacts that I follow up within the month. My advice for young researchers is to study the programme in advance, decide who you want to talk to and what you want to get out of the colloquium, and prepare a one-minute pitch about yourself.

And if you have a question, just ask it, whether during the Q&A or at the coffee break. It gives you visibility! Even if you think the answer might already have been in the presentation, ask anyway. It’s a good moment to put yourself on the map and clarify some points for yourself.