NIH and West African leaders to discuss current crisis of Ebola outbreak at TJU

Leaders from West African Nations and representatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will attend a meeting on September 22nd from 3:00-5:15 pm at Thomas Jefferson University to discuss the current crisis and plan future collaborations. Thomas Jefferson University is working with the National Institutes of Health to develop one promising Ebola vaccine candidate that could help prevent the spread of the disease.

There may be additional Ebola-related news announced at the meeting.

Speakers at the event will include His Excellency, Daouda Diabate, Ambassador from the Ivory Coast, Dr. Solange Ngazoa Kakou, Ph.D., Pasteur Institute Abidjan, Ivory Coast, as well as Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., M.B.A, President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health System and Matthias J. Schnell, Ph.D., Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, TJU, Director, Jefferson Vaccine Center and co-inventor of the Jefferson Ebola vaccine with the NIH/NIAID. Kathleen E. Squires, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, TJU, Division Director, Infectious Diseases and Environmental Medicine will also speak.

Speakers will discuss the current status of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including efforts to contain and prevent the spread of the disease. Dr. Schnell will address the current and future therapeutic strategies for the infection as well as work being done at Jefferson and the NIH on a promising vaccine approach.

The event will take place on September 22nd at 3:00-5:15pm at the Dorrance H. Hamilton Building, 1001 Locust Street, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.