Build Capacity

Building Capacity in Vaccines and Vaccination

To promote developing country sustainability and self-sufficiency in vaccines and vaccination, we help build capacity in various ways. We provide technology transfer, technical assistance, and support to vaccine manufacturers; and technical assistance to national regulatory authorities (NRAs) in developing countries. We also provide training and technical assistance to developing country research partners in areas ranging from good clinical practice to infectious disease surveillance and reporting.

Some of our programs have included:

  • North Korea Program: We refurbished North Korea’s main reference laboratory at the Academy of Medical Sciences in Pyongyang and trained their scientists in lab diagnostics for Japanese encephalitis (JE) and Hib as part of efforts to introduce JE and Hib vaccines in North Korea.
  • Establishment of an immune monitoring lab in India: With India’s National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) and support from the Swedish government, we established a lab in Kolkata for vaccine evaluation studies. The lab, recognized by WHO-TDR, also served as a training ground for Indian scientists in Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP).

We are a participating partner of the EDCTP-TDR Clinical Research and Development Fellowship Program.

Vaccinology Course

Our Vaccinology Course is our flagship capacity-building program. The week-long course is held every year at IVI Headquarters in Seoul.  The course aims to build capacity in vaccinology for vaccine professionals from developing countries.  World-renowned experts from various fields such as vaccinology, immunology, and infectious disease epidemiology participate as faculty members.  We also competitively award fellowships to participants with demonstrated financial need from low- and middle-income countries. Please visit Vaccinology Course for more information. The course has trained more than 1,200 professionals over the past 18 years.