“In this interconnected, globalized world we live in, diseases and public health emergencies of international concern are increasing in frequency, so global health security is more and more important today.”

For Ryan Abraham, a physician and epidemiologist from Trinidad and Tobago attending the International Vaccine Institute’s International Vaccinology Course in Stockholm, vaccines are an important part of that security. His reflection also speaks to a central idea of this year’s course: global health challenges do not fit neatly within countries, disciplines, or institutions—and neither can the solutions.

The International Vaccinology Course brings together professionals from across the vaccine field for five days of learning, dialogue, and collaboration. For its 25th edition this year, 200 vaccine professionals from 55 countries, including 30 Vaccinology Fellows, came together as one learning community across Seoul, Kigali, and Stockholm, with the Kigali program delivered in partnership with the University of Rwanda, and the Stockholm program in partnership with Karolinska Institutet.

Seeing vaccinology as a connected system

The theme of the 2026 course, “Vaccines for a Connected World: A One Health Perspective,” reflected the close relationships among human, animal, and environmental health. Throughout the week, participants considered how collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and borders—and across vaccination, surveillance, research, innovation, and policy—can strengthen preparedness and responses to emerging health challenges.

For Margie Danchin of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, a faculty member teaching in Seoul, that wider perspective is increasingly necessary. “It’s really clear now that we can’t focus only on the human population. Human health, environmental health, and animal health are intricately linked. We need to develop solutions and understand complex challenges across all three spheres.”

Shared lectures connected participants across all three locations, while locally organized case studies gave them opportunities to work through problems with colleagues from different disciplines and professional backgrounds. The result was less about mastering one narrow area of vaccine science than understanding how different parts of the vaccine ecosystem intersect.

From knowledge to practice

The course also asked participants to connect what they were learning to the work they do every day.

Kofoworola Akinsola, a participant in Kigali, reflected on how the course could strengthen one aspect of her work: communicating about vaccine confidence with health care workers. By gaining a better understanding of what happens “behind the scenes” of vaccination, she said, she feels better equipped to communicate with them effectively.

Learning also extends beyond the classroom. In Seoul and Kigali, site visits gave participants a firsthand look at the vaccine and public health ecosystem—from research and clinical trials to manufacturing and training. Participants in Kigali visited a manufacturing facility and the Center for Family Health Research, while those in Seoul visited the Korea National Institute of Biomedical Research and Training Center.

Learning from one another

The diversity of the course was itself part of the learning experience. Participants came from different countries, institutions, disciplines, and stages of their careers, creating opportunities to encounter questions and perspectives outside their usual areas of work.

The IVI Vaccinology Fellowship is an important part of that community, supporting promising vaccine professionals from low- and middle-income countries to participate in the course and connect with experts and future collaborators. Fellows are selected through a competitive application process. This year, more than 300 applications were received, with 30 fellows selected to participate across the three course sites: 12 in Kigali, nine in Seoul, and nine in Stockholm.

This year, scholarships supported by the governments of India, Thailand, and the Philippines enabled 11 health professionals to participate in the course. IVI is grateful to these government partners for their investment in the professional development of vaccine and global health practitioners.

The 25th International Vaccinology Course was made possible with generous support from CEPI; the East African Community Regional Centre of Excellence for Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management; Gates Foundation; Hilleman Laboratories; Korea Support Committee for IVI; EuBiologics; Moderna; Pfizer; and Sanofi. IVI is grateful to these supporters, the government of Sweden, and course co-hosts the University of Rwanda and Karolinska Institutet for helping expand access to vaccinology training and strengthen connections across the global vaccine community.

By: Kevin Keen

Published: 15 September 2026