Our Team - Brighton Collaboration

Science Board Members

The Brighton Collaboration Science Board sets research priorities, oversees scientific progress, ensures scientific rigor, and advises the Secretariat.

Former Science Board Members

Sonali Kochhar, Wan-Ting Huang, Clare Cutland, Nicholas Wood, Michael Gold, Hector Izurieta, Egeruan Babatunde Imoukhuede, Michael Blum, Miles Braun, Robert Chen (Founding Member), Paul T. Heath, Harald Heijbel (Founding Member), Ulrich Heininger (Founding Member), Tom Jefferson (Founding Member), Brigitte Keller-Stanislawski, Najwa Khuri- Bulos, Katrin S Kohl, Odile Leroy, Elisabeth Loupi (Founding Member), Mike Marcy, Patrick Zuber, Miriam Sturkenboom, Steve Black, Heidi Larson, Jim Buttery, James Oleske, Barbara J Law, Kathryn M. Edwards, Daniel Salmon, Helen Petousis-Harris, Delese Mimi Darko

Secretariat

Email:
bc-coordinator@taskforce.org

Address:
The Task Force for Global Health,
330 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.
Decatur, GA 30030

Extensive experience in clinical vaccine research and safety since 2007 with several vaccine developers
Currently with Novavax as Chief Safety Officer and previously with Janssen (Johnson and Johnson) as Excellence Leader in vaccine safety
Lead in HIV Vaccine trials for the HIV Vaccines Trials Network at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (2005-7)
Member of the Brighton Viral Vector Vaccines Safety Working Group since 2014 and primary or co-author for 7 publications

Past positions as Head of multiple WHO Research Divisions (Hematology 1970-75; Immunology 1975-87; Vaccine research and Development within the WHO Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunizations(1994-9);
Chaired the WHO Global Advisory Committee for Vaccine Safety (2005-20009)
Director International Advanced Course of Vaccinology (ADVAC), Annecy, France (2000-2018)
Senior Advisor, Centre of Vaccinology, University of Generva (2003-present)
Focus on research into the immunological mechanisms involved in autoimmune and immune complex disease (author or co-author of 474 publications and several books)
Joined the Brighton science board in 2020 after the retirement of James Oleske

Research focus on impact of infectious disease during pregnancy as well as infant morbidity and mortality, and evaluation of preventative strategies; More recently focus is on maternal immunisation
For Brighton, participated in the GAIA (Global Alignment of Immunization Safety Assessment in Pregnancy) project Working Groups for defining Low Birth Weight, Small for Gestational Age, and Congenital Microcephaly, Postpartum Endometritis, Chorioamnionitis as well as the Guidelines for Safety Data
LMIC experience In Africa, South America, India and Papua New Guinea working on women’s, children’s and adolescent health programs
Longstanding activities in Training PhD students as well as Lecturing in courses on global health epidemiology and maternal and reproductive health

Brighton Science Board member (2011-2018)
Head, Epidemiology and Signal Detection of SAEFIVIC – Immunisation Safety Service
Global Vaccine Data Network – member of the executive
Expert advisor to the PATH Advancing Maternal Immunizaiton collaboration
Member of WHO Strategic Priority Group – Global Vaccine Safety Initiative
Member of WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety
Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Advisory Committee on Vaccines (2017 – present)
Victorian Immunisation Advisory Committee

Dean University of Mexico Medical School (1995—2003)
Executive Director, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2005-2012)
Chief Scientific Officer, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul Korea (2012-2014)
WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (Member 2015-17; Chair 2017 to present)
Extensive research career with a focus on interaction between infection and growth in young infants and vaccine development to prevent pathogenic bacterial and viral diseases (including cholera, typhoid, polio, rotavirus and HPV)
Member of Mexicos’s National Advisory Group on Vaccines and Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 vaccines
Involved in several Brighton Collaboration events related to maternal immunization
Extensive Journal Editorial Board experience including Editor in Chief for the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition (2007-12) and on the Editorial Board of BMC Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines (2014-to date)

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Institute for Vaccine Safety: Epidemiologist (Aug 2014-Oct 2020); Co Director of Epidemiology (Nov 2020 to present)
Research areas include vaccine safety, vaccine hesitancy, and vaccine communication
Co-author for Brighton case definitions of Vaccine-associated enhanced disease, Sensorineural hearing loss; supported several other CD WGs and led efforts to set up a new Brighton 2.0 website under the umbrella of Task Force for Global Health
Lead author on a Lancet Infect Dis 2020 article “The state of vaccine safety science: systematic reviews of the evidence” and a book “The Clinician’s Vaccine Safety Resource Guide: Optimizing Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Across the Lifespan”.
Conceptualized an individually tailored vaccine educational app called MomsTalkShots/LetsTalkShots and worked with technology companies to program, test and update it.

Chairs Jordan Immunization Committee (since 1985)
Founding director of the Infectious Disease and Vaccine Center, Univ. Jordan
Longstanding contributor to Brighton Collaboration including past service as a member of the Science Board and membership several case definition WGs, guidelines for collection, analysis and presentation of vaccine safety data in clinical studies and surveillance systems; the Viral Vector Vaccine Safety Working Group and the GAIA project for immunization outcomes in pregnancy.
Presented a paper to London School for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on risk communication on vaccine adverse events; currently a science advisor for the Jordan Media Institute and involved in ‘infodemic’ issues related to COVID-19
A Distinguished professor of Peidatric Infectious Disease at Jordan University and working on organizing vaccination online courses

Past member of the Brighton Science Board and chaired it from 2014-6
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a variety of positions from 2003 to current times including Chief, Analytical Epidemiology Branch, and since 2012 Epidemiologist designing/leading research studies on vaccine and biologics effectiveness and safety
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) – was acting chief of the PAHO Immunization Unit; before that an international advisor in their Division of Vaccines and Immunization
Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the National Immunization Program, CDC
International vaccine experience included 2 years with Medecins sans Frontieres in South Sudan; Medical advisor of Swiss-Benin Medical aid Program in Benin, West Africa
Served as the FDA liaison for Health Canada’s Advisory Committee on Causality Assessment (specific to vaccine adverse event associations; 2004-7)
Represented CBER (FDA Center for Biologics Research and Review) on the Mini-Sentinel Safety Science Committee (large linked databases used to identify vaccine safety signals)

Director Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, Oakland California (2016-present)
Principal Investigator for the CDC – sponsored CISA Network and Vaccine Safety Datalink Project. Currently leading the VSD COVID-19 vaccines rapid cycle analysis to monitor vaccine safety in near real time.
Principal investigator for both industry and federally sponsored Phase 2 and 3 vaccine trials
Research focus includes genetics of vaccine responses and vaccine safety among special populations
Multiple awards for publication excellence (Outstanding Paper Award, Article of the Year and so on) relating to vaccine effectiveness and vaccine safety
Member of several Brighton case definition WGs (neonatal, maternal, sensorineural
hearing loss, MIS-C/A)

Leads vaccine safety efforts within the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN)
Principal investigator of the CIRN Special Immunization Clinic (SIC) Network which focuses on assessing vaccine safety and AEFI in individuals
Co-lead with Dr. Robert Chen of the International Network of Special Immunization Services (INSIS) which is focusing on risk factors and mechanisms underlying rare AEFIs following COVID-19 vaccination
Investigator for the Canadian Immunization Monitoring Program ACTive (IMPACT) which is an active pediatric hospital-based sentinel surveillance program (AEFIs and VPDs)
Provides expert advice on vaccine safety to the Canadian NITAG – National Advisory committee on immunization (NACI)
Member of the executive of the Canadian Association for Immunization Research, Evaluation and Education (CAIRE).
WHO consultant to workshops on AEFI surveillance and causality assessment in European middle-income countries
For Brighton has been a member of several Case Definition WGs

FDA lead for Brighton Thrombocytopenia Working group; also part of the WGs for Unexplained Sudden Death and the Guidelines for Safety data collection, analysis and presentation in clinical trial as well as pharmacovigilance settings
Retired in 2016 but acting as an Independent consultant, most recently providing medical epidemiologic consultations on COVID-19 pandemic
Industry experience – Safety Medical Director (AstraZeneca/MedImmune – 2011-16)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA; 1985 – 2011) – a variety of positions as a medical pharmacoepidemiologist and Deputy Director Division of Epidemiology (2009-11)
International Health residency with PAHO in Guatemala; consultations in West Africa for US Agency for International Development
Sat on the management board for the MedDRA (Medical dictionary for Regulatory Activities) and on the Canadian Advisory Committee for Causality Assessment