The Swine it Podcast Show Canada - #05 - Vaccine development: making the science (and the magic) come alive

We must all agree that vaccines play an important role in building a robust and productive global swine industry – the vaccination programs conducted by most pig farms are crucial for protecting animals from diseases and boosting their immune systems. As it is such an important topic, we analyze the very root of its process in this episode: the way vaccines are developed. I have a pleasant talk with Dr. Heather Wilson, who serves as a Research Scientist at VIDO and whose current research focuses on using intrauterine immunization to promote mucosal immunity, having a pig as an animal model. She walks us through her work of finding novel vaccine formulations (including novel adjuvants and T-cell epitope prediction in pigs for subunit vaccines) and delivery (such as intrauterine vaccination).

What you’ll learn:

     ○ Research on vaccine development

     ○ Intrauterine immunization

     ○ What is the best time to vaccinate sows?

     ○ Thoughts on subunit vaccines

     ○ The next steps in vaccine research

Meet the guest:

Dr. Heather Wilson

Experience:

     ○ Research Scientist at VIDO (Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization)

Background:

     ○ Ph.D., Biochemistry (University of Saskatchewan)

     ○ M.Sc., Biochemistry (University of Saskatchewan)

     ○ B.Sc., Biochemistry (University of Saskatchewan)

Hobbies: I'm a wife and mother, so I don't have a lot of time for hobbies! But I did start to spend some time on the golf course last year, which I enjoy. I also started learning how to make chainmail over the winter!

Favorite Books: I enjoy books about science and technology. Lesser Beasts, by Mark Essig, is really good for pig people. Virolution – or anything – by Frank Ryan is good!

Favorite quote: I don't have a favorite, but this is a good one: "Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else." - Margaret Mead

Success tip: Let the drama go. If you are an easy-to-work-with and a hardworking employee/lab member, you will go far.

Let's connect on social media: VIDO