{"id":651,"date":"2026-06-04T15:24:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/two-scientists-on-their-race-to-make-a-new-ebola-vaccine\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:24:25","slug":"two-scientists-on-their-race-to-make-a-new-ebola-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/two-scientists-on-their-race-to-make-a-new-ebola-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Two scientists on their race to make a new Ebola vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

As health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to battle an ongoing Ebola outbreak, scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against the strain of the virus that\u2019s causing it. <\/p>\n

Two approved vaccines exist for Ebola<\/a>, but they target the Zaire strain of the virus, not the Bundibugyo strain causing the 2026 outbreak \u2013 which has so far killed 61 people, with 359 confirmed cases<\/a> in the DRC and neighbouring Uganda.<\/p>\n

The outbreak is centred in the Ituri province of northeastern DRC, where conflict, displaced people, a large migrant community and poorly resourced health facilities make stopping the spread particularly challenging.<\/p>\n

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly<\/a> podcast, we speak to two scientists from the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, Teresa Lambe and Rebecca Makinson, who are developing a vaccine candidate for Bundibugyo virus. On June 1, they were among three research groups to receive fast-track funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations<\/a>, alongside Moderna and IAVI. <\/p>\n

The Oxford group are using ChADOx1, a viral-vector platform that formed the basis of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, and adapting it for use against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. This builds on previous work developing a vaccine against another strain<\/a> of Ebola in 2022. <\/p>\n

Development of a vaccine typically involves three stages: pre-clinical trials, tests in animals, and manufacture of batches of the vaccine for use in clinical trials in humans, explains Lambe. \u201cBecause we are using a platform technology where we have amassed a lot of knowledge around how to make these types of vaccines, we\u2019re trying to run each of those different streams at the same time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lambe says they have already begun testing the vaccine on small animals while manufacturing batches of it for trials, adding that they hope to do a phase one clinical trial \u201crelatively soon, and certainly faster than you would routinely do\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe question isn\u2019t really whether we can make an Ebola vaccine because it\u2019s very clear that\u2019s possible,\u201d explains Makinson, a postdoctoral researcher in Lambe\u2019s group. \u201cThe big challenge is being able to develop these vaccines \u2026 when there\u2019s not an outbreak happening, and then making sure that they\u2019re available as and when and where the outbreaks occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to the interview with Lambe and Makinson on The Conversation Weekly<\/a> podcast. <\/p>\n

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Gemma Ware, Katie Flood and Mend Mariwany. Mixing by Eleanor Brezzi and theme music by Neeta Sarl.<\/em><\/p>\n

Newsclips in this video from France 24 English<\/a> and CBS News<\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed<\/a> or find out how else to listen here<\/a>. A transcript of this episode is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Teresa Lambe and Rebecca Makinson are investigators based at the University of Oxford, as part of this research portfolio, have received funds from DHSC and CEPI related to filovirus vaccine research. Teresa Lambe was one of the Principal Investigators overseeing the Oxford\/AstraZeneca vaccine programme and is named as an inventor on a patent application for a vaccine against SARS CoV-2.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to battle an ongoing Ebola outbreak, scientists around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against the strain of the virus that\u2019s causing it. Two approved vaccines exist for Ebola, but they target the Zaire strain of the virus, not the Bundibugyo strain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}