Dr. Volker Gerdts: Bringing back biomanufacturing
If you asked a 17-year old Volker Gerdts if he knew that his future self would play a large role in vaccine development, his answer would have been a confident yes.
So why, then, did the now Director and CEO of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan enrolling in veterinary school?
"I went into veterinary medicine already thinking that I wanted to pursue a career in science. In fact, most veterinarians learn as much about humans as they do about other species. I was fascinated by all of this and very early on I decided I wanted to go into research."
The vaccine connection
How does this connect to his work at VIDO and their contributions to vaccine development, like COVID-19? Vaccines require animal tissues or cells in the development and manufacturing process.
In fact, VIDO's 45-year history is rooted in infectious disease research and vaccine development for animals. This is important as a large part of Canada's economy is based on agriculture and more than 70% of emerging human infectious diseases originate in animals.
"I think what we're learning from all of these emerging events is that the speed is critical."
Bringing back biomanufacturing
Today, VIDO is focused on bringing domestic vaccine manufacturing back to Canada. "The government has now invested into VIDO and there will also be facilities in in Montréal, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, and one in Vancouver—so there are more and more facilities that will be able to fill the gap," asserts Dr. Gerdts.
And biomanufacturing goes beyond our borders: the research centre at the university has scientists from more than 25 countries, and collaborates with infectious disease research groups from across Canada and the world.
Biomanufacturing video series: VIDO
Find out about the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO)'s COVID-19 research and vaccine development and its new Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facility, which received federal funding in 2020.
Eyes set on the future
How does VIDO sees itself evolving?
"Instead of catching up with a new disease outbreak, we're asking, can we predict what the next disease might look like, and make a vaccine for it in advance? This can help us control and contain initial outbreaks," explains Dr. Gerdts.
"Global organizations are looking to reduce the window from a new disease outbreak to having the first vaccine to months rather than years, which is phenomenal. This is probably the most rewarding time we have ever had in our lives: where we can work directly on a problem that is affecting all of us and come up with a solution."
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