【Active discussion with participants】

IVReD and the International Institute for Zoonosis Control (IIZC) co-hosted the international symposium “The 13th Consortium Meeting for the Control of Zoonotic Diseases” online on Thursday, March 5.　Please see the poster for details.

At the opening of the symposium, Professor Hirofumi Sawa, Director of IVReD and also Director of the International Collaboration Unit of IIZC (GI-CoRE Cooperating Hub), delivered opening remarks. This was followed by presentations from four internationally active researchers, who shared their latest findings on vaccine development and host immune responses.

Professor Katherine Kedzierska from the University of Melbourne spoke about immune signatures associated with healthy longevity. Dr. Marumi Ono, Assistant Professor at IIZC, presented research on mixed inactivated whole-particle vaccines for influenza and COVID-19 and emphasized the importance of establishing scalable vaccine production systems. Professor Arnab Pain from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology highlighted the importance of genomic surveillance of dengue virus. Professor Stephen Gordon from University College Dublin introduced new insights into the RD1 region, a genomic region associated with the virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is involved in the attenuation of the BCG vaccine strain.

A total of 77 participants (including 38 international participants) attended the symposium, including IVReD and GI-CoRE affiliated faculty members, researchers from IIZC, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and the One Health Research Center, as well as students from the Graduate School of Infectious Diseases. The symposium featured active discussions and lively Q&A sessions among participants.
Through this symposium, further strengthening of collaboration between IVReD and overseas institutions is expected, as well as the promotion of international joint research aimed at developing preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies for infectious diseases.

【Outline】
■ Dates and Time : 17:00-18:30(JST), Thu. 5th of March 2026
■ Venue：Online
■ Co-hosts :
Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine
Graduate School of Infectious Disease
One Health Research Center
■ Supporter :
Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education (GI-CoRE)
■ Admission：Free
■ Language：English
■ Participants: 77 (including 38 international participants)

【Scenes from the Online Symposium】