The School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia has successfully organised a "Comprehensive Training in Vaccine Development: Nurturing Human Capital Capabilities in Vaccinology Research." from 1^st to 5^th December 2024. The workshop, which was funded by the National Institute of Biotechnology Malaysia (NIBM) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) offered an in-depth exploration of the intricacies of vaccine development, covering pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, regulatory approval processes and pharmacovigilance.

The program was hosted at two venues, the School of Health Sciences and the Animal Research and Service Center (ARASC) at USM Health Campus. The program was officiated by Associate Professor Dr Nurul Asma Abdullah, Head of Biomedicine Program. Dr Sabreena Safuan served as the Program Advisor and Miss Nur Azmina Hassan led the event as the Program Director. Participants included representatives from esteemed institutions such as Malaysian Institute of Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals (IPharm), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Universiti Malaya (UM) and USM. The defining features of the workshop was the integration of theoretical learning with practical, hands-on training which include in-vitro blood-brain barrier model, small and large animal handling, tissue processing and histopathological analysis. The training curriculum was aligned with the National Vaccine Development Roadmap (NVDR) which aims to achieve a fully developed homegrown vaccine ecosystem by 2030.

The success of this program showed USM’s dedication to foster research excellence and address global health challenges through collaborative efforts and capacity building, thus promote scientific advancements in this field.