Development of an intradermal or inhaled DNA vaccine for COVID-19 and beyond

Intradermal and inhaled delivery of nucleic acid vaccines could be clinically effective, safe and globally-deployable against multiple complex diseases. This project will aim to combine physical and peptide-based delivery systems to enhance the efficacy and application of such technologies to the COVID-19 vaccine (‘Covidity’) presently under-development by our consortium (funded by Innovate-UK). This PhD will formulate and test combined systems for skin and lung-focused vaccine delivery in ex vivo tissue models, then move to rodent models, examining virus neutralisation, T cell responses and protection in virally challenged animals. The platform technology optimised and demonstrated will have wide ranging impact on future applications of nucleic acid vaccine approaches (including DNA, mRNA and oligo-based methods). The PhD will also directly aid attempts to translate antibody and peptide-engineering knowhow to generate a rapidly deployable and safe immunisation system for multiple complex diseases.