From the Laboratory to the Clinic 2025: Generating more effective vaccines and therapeutics

This annual conference, designed to foster translational research, was established in 1984 and is organised by an international committee of renowned Immunologists.

The major topic for this meeting will be vaccines, along with other therapy-related topics of Gene Therapy and Regulatory T-Cells.

Vaccines have become an even more interesting topic in light of recent global events, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. The very rapid development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines showcased the power of science in controlling outbreaks and saving millions of lives. Vaccination efforts were key in reducing severe illness, hospitalisations, and deaths, allowing countries to reopen and economies to recover. However, the pandemic also exposed challenges and we need to keep the conversations open between academics, clinicians, industry and government to help to solve these. As research continues, gene therapy holds the promise of revolutionizing medicine by providing long-term or permanent solutions to previously untreatable diseases. Modulation of regulatory T-cell activity holds immense therapeutic potential in balancing immune responses, giving hope for managing diseases where immune dysregulation is implicated. 

Hosted by the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, the conference is designed to foster and facilitate interactions between a global audience of laboratory scientists, pharmaceutical and biotech scientists and clinicians, all interested in translational research. Over the years, the format has facilitated scientific exchange leading to new collaborations and scientific progress in the translational research space.

We look forward to seeing you in September. 

TOPICS

• Gene Therapy
• Regulatory T-cells
• Infection
• Immunology of Vaccines
• Cancer Vaccines
• Pandemic Preparedness

SESSIONS AND CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Gene Therapy

• Alain Fischer – Collège de France/Imagine Institute, France
• Mark Bunnage – Vertex, USA
• Marco Londei – Tr1X Bio, USA
• Terence Flott
• Robert MacLaren – University of Oxford, UK

Regulatory T-Cells

• Shimon Sakaguchi – Osaka University – Immunology Frontier Research Centre, Japan
• Fiona Powrie – University of Oxford, UK
• Jeff Bluestone – Sonoma Biotherapeutics, USA
• Luke Devey - Quell Therapeutics, UK
• Megan Levings - University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Canada
• Lucy Walker – University College London, UK
• Alexander Rudensky - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, USA 

Infection

• Barton Haynes – Duke University School of Medicine, USA
• Adrian Hill – University of Oxford, Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, UK
• Helen McShane - University of Oxford, UK
• Andrew Pollard – University of Oxford, Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, UK
• Galit Alter - Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard

Immunology of Vaccines

• Mark Davis – Stanford University School of Medicine, USA
• Bali Pulendran - Stanford University School of Medicine, USA
• Pamela Bjorkman – California Institute of Technology, USA
• Rafi Ahmed – Emory University, School of Medicine, USA
• Jean-Francois Toussaint – Sanofi, France
• Peter Palese - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA 

Cancer Vaccines

• Ira Mellman – USA
• Sarah Blagden – University of Oxford, UK
• Ugur Sahin – BioNTech, Germany
• Bob Seder – Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, NIH, USA
• Kristine McKinney – Moderna Therapeutics
• Catherine Wu – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, USA 

Pandemic Preparedness

• Teresa Lambe - University of Oxford, Oxford Vaccine Group, UK
• Maxime Taquet - University of Oxford, UK
• Rino Rappuoli - Fondazione Biotecnopolo di Siena, Siena, Italy
• Raymond Dwek – University of Oxford, UK
• Marion Koopmans – Erasmus MC, Netherlands
  

Please visit the main conference website to read and download the full programme, speaker information, venue information, pricing and to register.

Registration is now open and closes on Friday 8th August 2025. Please register early as places are limited.

Registration is via the conference website.

This year we welcome you to present posters which will be displayed throughout the conference. Information for poster presenters can be found on the main conference website.

We are offering both in-person and virtual attendance this year.

Conference tickets range from £200 (single days) - £1100 (full conference) with discount for academic attendees. PhD students are welcome to attend and also are offered a discounted ticket price. Visit the main conference website pricing page for all of the available options.

If you have questions about the conference, please contact Charlotte at labtoclinic@kennedy.ox.ac.uk.