About us
The Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee (MALVAC) was established in 2008 as a scientific group of experts that provide advice to the WHO on specific themes related to the development of malaria vaccines. MALVAC’s role and responsibilities include the following:
- Advise the Secretariat of the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research (IVR) and the Global Malaria Programme (GMP) on issues concerning malaria vaccine development, particularly those related to:
- the facilitation of and coordination with the international malaria vaccine research and development (R&D) effort, with a special emphasis on the public health needs of developing countries;
- the facilitation and coordination of malaria vaccine development activities in the context of ongoing global malaria control and elimination efforts; and
- the development of guidance on non-clinical and clinical evaluation of malaria vaccines to support the eventual development of norms and standards around these vaccines;
- Advise IVR and GMP on vaccine-related workplans and identify opportunities for new or neglected lines of research.
- Assist in the establishment of subcommittees, expert working groups or study groups to address issues relevant to specific aspects of malaria vaccine development.
| In 2022, the disease-specific Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee was discontinued, and future technical consultations on malaria vaccine R&D will be organized in consultation with the Product Development or Vaccines Advisory Committee (PDVAC). PDVAC was established in 2014 as a committee of experts across multiple diseases to advise WHO on early-stage clinical development of vaccines for priority infectious disease pathogens. |
Members
Director for Latin America, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, USA
Executive Director, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya
Head, Malaria Parasite Biology and Vaccines, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Director and Chief Executive Officer, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia
Institute of Immunology (INMJNO), Cali, Colombia
Associate Director for Malaria Research, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine Maryland, USA
Director of the Malaria Elimination Initiative, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain
Infectious Disease Specialist, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
Head of Department, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Ougadougou, Burkina Faso
President and Chief Executive Officer, Management Sciences for Health, United States
Membership
The MALVAC Committee consists of no more than 12 members, appointed jointly by the Director of GMP and the Director of IVR. It is currently chaired by Professor Chetan Chitnis, Head of the Malaria Parasite Biology and Vaccines Unit, Institut Pasteur.
Members act as individual experts and not as representatives of their respective organizations or employers. Membership has a broad geographical representation and balance of gender from industrialized and developing countries. Areas of expertise represented in the membership include: clinical trials of vaccines, public health and epidemiology, vaccine implementation, malariology, malaria control, biostatistics, vaccine safety, immunology and vaccinology, biotechnology. The Terms of Reference provide a complete overview of the members' role.
Members are appointed initially for 2 years, renewable for up to 2 further 2-year terms. Depending on the expertise required for WHO activities, the Advisory Committee may be supplemented by other experts, including those from other WHO advisory groups. Members are required to complete a WHO Declaration of Interest (DOI) form prior to each meeting and their participation is subject to the WHO Secretariat’s evaluation of the completed forms.