Ekta Mukhopadhyay
DPhil
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Influenza Studies
Influenza vaccines and anti-virals
Ekta has been involved in infectious disease research for over 10 years working on adenoviral (ChAd63 and ChAdOx1) and Virus-like particle vaccines (R21) for diseases like malaria, HIV, influenza and zika. Her previous experience of working on process development, production and quality assessment of vaccines made her curious about pre-clinical vaccine development which she was able to study during her DPhil in Clinical Medicine at the Jenner Institute. She has been a part of the Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility team and was involved in process development and production of the first batch of the R21 vaccine for the Phase I clinical trial.
During her DPhil, she explored and assessed new malaria vaccine candidates for immunogenicity and efficacy with promising results to progress into clinical trials. She has also investigated into alternative vaccination strategies and surface glycans for malaria vaccination. During this time, she got an opportunity to be a part of the Oxford/AZ ChAdOx1 nCov-19 coronavirus vaccine and R21 vaccine clinical trials. After her DPhil, Ekta worked at the Kennedy institute of Rheumatology in Professor Fiona Powrie’s lab on oral vaccine platform with industry collaboration. In 2024, she joined Professor Alain Townsend group under Dr. Pramila Rijal and works on influenza vaccines exploring influenza immunology from both clinical and pre-clinical perspective. Along with vaccines, she is also works on Novo Nordisk funded anti-viral drug discovery project applying structural biology and fragment screening.
Recent publications
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Subcutaneous administration of the malaria R21/Matrix M vaccine and immune complex formation with anti-circumsporozoite protein mAb 2A10 elicit protective efficacy in mice
Journal article
Mukhopadhyay E. et al, (2025), Frontiers in Immunology, 16
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Evaluation of a novel malaria anti-sporozoite vaccine candidate, R21 in Matrix-M adjuvant, in the UK and Burkina Faso: two phase 1, first-in-human trials.
Journal article
Venkatraman N. et al, (2025), Lancet Microbe, 6
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Emulsion and liposome-based adjuvanted R21 vaccine formulations mediate protection against malaria through distinct immune mechanisms.
Journal article
Reinke S. et al, (2023), Cell Rep Med, 4
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Production of a high purity, C-tagged hepatitis B surface antigen fusion protein VLP vaccine for malaria expressed in Pichia pastoris under cGMP conditions.
Journal article
Mukhopadhyay E. et al, (2022), Biotechnol Bioeng, 119, 2784 - 2793
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Virus-like particle vaccines
Chapter
Mukhopadhyay E. et al, (2022), Vaccinology and Methods in Vaccine Research, 163 - 176
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Safety and immunogenicity of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine administered in a prime-boost regimen in young and old adults (COV002): a single-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 2/3 trial.
Journal article
Ramasamy MN. et al, (2021), Lancet, 396, 1979 - 1993
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Efficacy of a low-dose candidate malaria vaccine, R21 in adjuvant Matrix-M, with seasonal administration to children in Burkina Faso: a randomised controlled trial.
Journal article
Datoo MS. et al, (2021), Lancet, 397, 1809 - 1818
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Efficacy of a low dose candidate malaria vaccine, R21 in adjuvant Matrix-M™, with seasonal administration to children in Burkina Faso
Journal article
EWER K. et al, (2021), The Lancet
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Single-dose administration and the influence of the timing of the booster dose on immunogenicity and efficacy of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine: a pooled analysis of four randomised trials.
Journal article
Voysey M. et al, (2021), Lancet, 397, 881 - 891
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Screening of viral-vectored P. falciparum pre-erythrocytic candidate vaccine antigens using chimeric rodent parasites.
Journal article
Kolli SK. et al, (2021), PLoS One, 16
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Phase I assessments of first-in-human administration of a novel malaria anti-sporozoite vaccine candidate, R21 in matrix-M adjuvant, in UK and Burkinabe volunteers
Journal article
Venkatraman N. et al, (2019)
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SAFETY AND IMMUNOGENICITY OF WITH NOVEL MALARIA VACCINE CANDIDATE, R21 ADJUVANTED WITH MATRIX M1
Other
Venkatraman N. et al, (2017), AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, 95, 123 - 123
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SAFETY, IMMUNOGENICITY AND DURABILITY OF A NOVEL MALARIA VACCINE CANDIDATE, R21 ADJUVANTED WITH AS01B
Conference paper
Venkatraman N. et al, (2017), AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE, 97, 132 - 132