Jenner Day 2024

About Jenner Day

Jenner Day is a yearly celebration of infection and immunity research in honour of one of St George’s most famous alumni, the vaccinologist Edward Jenner.

At each meeting, investigators from the Institute for Infection and Immunity at St George’s welcome friends and colleagues from across London, particularly from our major research partners (St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), other universities, UK Health Security Agency, the National Institute of Biological Standards and Controls, the Pirbright Institute, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Presentations from researchers at St George’s and invited colleagues cover a range of topics in academic and clinical sciences. These presentations feature work on major human bacterial, viral, parasitic and fungal pathogens and highlight our range of research interests; from molecular biology to systems biology, and from diagnostics to therapy and vaccines.

A highpoint of each meeting is the keynote Jenner Lecture, given by a distinguished speaker, whose work has had a major global health impact.

The Jenner Lecture will be held by Professor Rino Rappuoli who is Scientific Director of the Biotecnopolo di Siena Foundation and head of MAD Lab Toscana Life Sciences, Italy.

Download the programme of the day here.

Drinks reception will follow the event from 17.45 to 19.30 in the Collaborative space.

About the speaker

Rino Rappuoli is Scientific Director of the Biotecnopolo di Siena Foundation and Head of MAD Lab Toscana Life Sciences, Italy. He is also Honorary Professor of Vaccinology at Imperial College, London, and Senior Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Siena. Prior positions held include Head R&D and Chief Scientist at GSK Vaccines, Head of Vaccine R&D at Novartis, CSO at Chiron Corporation and Head R&D at Sclavo.

He is an elected member of US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Royal Society of London and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

Awards received include Gold Medal by the Italian President, Albert B Sabin Gold Medal, Canada Gairdner International Award, European Inventor Award for Lifetime Achievement, Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize and the Robert Koch Award. He is President of the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Currently, he is ranked second most important person worldwide in the specialty of vaccines by ScholarGPS. He has published 806 works in peer-reviewed journals and has an H-index of 162.

He introduced novel scientific concepts to the field of vaccinology: genetic detoxification; cellular microbiology; reverse vaccinology; pangenome. He has developed a number of now licensed vaccines: acellular pertussis containing a non-toxic mutant of pertussis toxin; first conjugate vaccine against meningococcus C; conjugate vaccines against meningococcus ACYW, MF59-adjuvanted seasonal and pandemic influenza; meningococcus B by reverse vaccinology; cell culture-based influenza vaccine and CRM 197 as the carrier of most conjugate vaccines.

As founder of the GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH) Professor Rappuoli is among the world scientific leaders dedicated to the sustainability of global health.

Learn more about Jenner Day at St George's