Vaccines | Interview with Prof. Dr. Jorge H. Leitão, Principal Research Officer Human Health Therapeutics—Session Chair of the 3rd International Online Conference on Vaccines
Prof. Dr. Jorge H. Leitão received his PhD degree in biotechnology in 1996 from the former Technical University of Lisbon (now University of Lisbon), Portugal, under the supervision of Prof. Isabel Sá-Correia. During his PhD degree, he studied the role of environmental factors in the biosynthesis of alginate by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In 2001 was a post trainee in immunology for 6 months at the University of Tubingen (Germany) under the supervision of Prof. Gerd Döring, and took a sabbatical leave in 2005 at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) in the Microbiology Department under the supervision of Prof. Leo Eberl. Prof. Dr. J.H. Leitão is presently an Associate Professor of the biological sciences scientific and pedagogical area at the Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon), Portugal. His current research interests are focused on post-transcriptional regulation of bacterial gene expression by small non-coding RNAs, as well as on the biology and pathogenesis of bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex. Other research interests include resistance to antimicrobials and the molecular characterization of microbial populations of ecological, industrial, or health interest.
Name: Jorge H. Leitão
Affiliation: Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Research interests and expertise: post-transcription regulation of bacterial gene expression by small non-coding RNAs, as well as on the biology and pathogenesis of bacteria of the Burkholderia cepacia complex, resistance to antimicrobials, and the molecular characterization of microbial populations of ecological, industrial, or health interest.
The following is a short interview with Prof. Dr. Jorge H. Leitão:
1. Could you please briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Jorge Leitão, and I am presently an Associate Professor at the Department of Bioengineering of Instituto Superior Técnico, the Engineering school of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. I teach in the biological sciences scientific area, covering several subjects related to molecular microbiology. I have a particular interest in vaccines as a powerful protective means against infectious diseases. I have dedicated my research to the biology and pathogenesis of a group of closely related bacterial species known as the Burkholderia cepacia complex, bacteria that can cause severe and often lethal respiratory infections to Cystic Fibrosis patients. Among my objectives is the identification of surface proteins from these bacteria that can be exploited for vaccine design or other types of immunotherapies to protect patients against these infections.
2. What do you think of the development status and trends of open access publishing?
Open access publishing has rapidly evolved, and it is something that is here to stay. One positive aspect of open access publishing is that you can freely access a paper regardless of your location, provided you have access to the internet. This is particularly important in low- and middle-income regions, promoting equal access to information. On the other hand, I think that it promotes pressure on publishing, even from the publishers, with risks associated with a decreased quality of papers. Additionally, while promoting equal access to information, it also poses the need to raise funding for the authors in order to publish in open access journals, with increasing fees being particularly negative for low- and middle-income countries.
3. What is your impression of the Vaccines journal?
I have been collaborating with the Vaccines journal for some years. Taking into consideration my experience with other journals, I would say that I have a positive interaction with the journal. As Editor of the journal, I always have important help from the Editorial Office when making decisions on manuscripts, with important alerts and attention called to specific issues. As an author, the Editorial Office is always very helpful with prompt answers to the questions raised. It is important in my view that the journal continues to keep a high standard in the fairness of the revisions and looks for fair reviewers. Overall, I must say I am happy to contribute to the success of the journal.
4. What do you think will be the research hotspots in the field of vaccines in the next few years, and can you describe them to us?
Definitely, mRNA vaccines will be in the spot in the next years. While mRNA vaccines were central to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology has come to stay and will be applied to other infectious diseases and expanded to cancer and other diseases. It is also expected that mRNA vaccines will be used in animal vaccines. Other topics will certainly involve novel carrier and delivery systems, like improved nanoparticles. Conjugated vaccines composed of proteins and polysaccharides also deserve special attention, and developments in this topic are expected. It is also worth mentioning that one field expected to grow with the increased use of AI and other informatics tools in vaccine design is immunoinformatics.
5. Can you give any advice on academic research to young scholars in related fields?
Young scholars face many challenges, and many of them are completely new. However, in my view, perseverance and rigorous and honest work will always pay off. The easiest way is not always the correct way. An important point to recognize is that many scientific advances are the result of teamwork and collaborative research.
6. Could you kindly share your thoughts and outlook on this e-conference with us?
I think this conference constitutes an opportunity for researchers to present their work and establish a forum for fruitful discussions, paving the way for future collaborations. I hope to see a large number of participants sharing new ideas and exciting results.
7. Could you please provide a brief introduction to the session you are chairing, titled “Models for Vaccine Development and Evaluation”?
The session I am chairing will be dedicated to models for vaccine development and evaluation. I am expecting contributions with creative novel experimental models for vaccine testing, taking into account ethical and ecological principles according to the 3R principle. Contributions are also expected to come from both the incorporation of AI in predictive programs—the immunoinformatics field—as well as from the introduction of novel software and bioinformatics applications in vaccine design and the prediction of vaccine efficacy, tolerance, etc. I am quite confident that we will receive interesting contributions to the topic.