Who is Sarah Gilbert, the front runner in Covid-19 vaccine race?

Sarah Catherine Gilbert, a 58-year-old British professor of vaccinology at the Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, is leading the research to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, and is racing her way past her contenders.

She is the frontrunner in the game and has been working on the project ever since China had published the genetic sequence of Covid-19, according to Bloomberg.

Gilbert has been making and testing vaccines designed to induce T cell responses for over a decade now, according to the university, a majority of them using antigens from malaria and influenza. Several of the vaccines developed in her laboratory have progressed into clinical trials, the university said on its website.

The 2014 Ebola Outbreak

“The Oxford team had exceptional experience of a rapid vaccine response, such as to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014. This is an even greater challenge,” Professor Adrian Hill, Director of the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford told PTI.

Read: Congo announces end to 2nd deadliest Ebola outbreak ever

Britain’s National Health Service “is very well prepared and did an extremely good job creating and caring for patients with Ebola,” said Sarah Gilbert to NYT referring to the virus outbreak that caused huge damages to many nations, especially those in Africa.

The Flu

She has also worked for a study that found the bird flu survivors had high levels of a 'killer' T-cell called CD8+, which helps the body to tackle new threats.

According to the Mail Online, Professor Sarah Gilbert said that scientists were already aware of the role of killer T-cells, and her own team is already working on ways to boost the immune system to counter flu.

'A one-shot-for-life vaccine is not really feasible,' she told the news agency.

The Vaccine

Sarah was involved in an experiment in 2014, for a vaccine based on the chimp virus that Hill had tested was manufactured in a large enough scale to provide 1 million doses, according to the NYT. That created a template for mass production of the coronavirus vaccine, should it prove effective.

She modified the same chimpanzee virus to make a vaccine against an earlier coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome.

Also Read: AstraZeneca targets year end for Covid-19 vaccine

She spoke to the international news agency about the experience. “We thought, well, should we have a go?’ ” she recalled. “‘It’ll be a little lab project, and we’ll publish a paper.’”

It did not stay a “little lab project” for long, according to NYT.

The Trials

The first phase of the trials was done between April 23 and May 21.

Doses of the vaccine were given to 1,077 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 in five UK hospitals in April and May as part of the phase one clinical trial and results, published in the Lancet medical journal.

The placebo group received a meningitis vaccine and 10 other participants were given two doses of the vaccine shot one month apart.

Also Read: Oxford Covid-19 vaccine promising, produces both antibody, say scientists

Sarah Gilbert, who co-authored the study, said the results of these tests "hold promise".

The people, who had taken the vaccine, experienced minor side effects, which could be reduced by taking paracetamol. There were no serious adverse events from the jab, according to reports.

The vaccine, known as 'AZD1222', also induced the body to make T cells - activating a second part of the immune system that experts increasingly believe will be important for a lasting immune response.

"The immune system has two ways of finding and attacking pathogens -- antibody and T cell responses," said Andrew Pollard, a member of the Oxford team, to AFP.

The doses induced strong antibody and T-cell immune responses for up to 56 days after they were given. T-cells are crucial for maintaining protection against the virus for years.

"If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale," she said.

Also Read: Lab-made 'mild virus' mimics coronavirus, can aid drug, vaccine discovery: Study

Sarah Gilbert said that people aged between 18 and 55, and people over 55 in the UK trial are already being given two doses of the vaccine candidate, according to Bloomberg. The larger US trial, due to start in a few weeks, will also likely to have two doses, she said.

“We don’t know where we need to get to with the immune response,” Gilbert told the business news agency. “Nobody knows how strong it needs to be.”

The best strategy, she said, is to go for a strong immune response to determine efficacy, she added. “If it turns out to be too much, that’s fine,” Gilbert reportedly said. “We may be able to take it back to one dose at least for the younger adults," she added.

Whilst the team will start screening people now to see if they are eligible to take part in the study, participants will not receive the vaccine for some weeks. Detailed pre-clinical work is being done and the vaccine is being manufactured at clinical grade standard at the Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility at Oxford University, according to PTI.

(With inputs from various agencies)