Awards
The Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology
To honour the memory of Robert Austrian for his pioneering and immensely important research on pneumococci and pneumococcal diseases, the ISPPD board announces its intention to award the Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology and has defined the research topics and criteria for the selection of award recipients. Based on these criteria, a subcommittee, consisting of ≥3 members of the ISPPD Board will propose the award recipients to the full ISPPD Board for approval. Recipients of the Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology will be selected on the basis of an application detailing career achievements and a research proposal.
In this round, up to ten Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology ≤$25,000 USD each will be sponsored by Pfizer. Pfizer has selected the International Society of Pneumonia and Pneumococcal Diseases, ISPPD, to manage the Robert Austrian Research Awards in Pneumococcal Vaccinology. Payments will only be made to the administering (i.e. host) institution and not to individuals, and will be made by wire transfer. ISPPD takes no responsibility for the further administration or use of the funds beyond the point of disbursement. The award recipients are expected to submit a short final report within two years of being awarded, and to present their results at the following ISPPD Meeting, ISPPD-16, in New Zealand (2028). It is also anticipated that their award, bios/photo and the final report will be posted on the ISPPD website.
2026 RARA Winners
Judit Burgaya
Institute for Infectious Diseases (IFIK), Switzerland
Adaptive strategies of Streptococcus pneumoniae in otitis media under vaccine pressure
Feroze Ganaie
University of Alabama at Birmingham, United States of America
Evaluating Cross-Protective Immunity Induced by New Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines Against Emerging Capsule Variants
Maria Geropeppa
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
The dynamic mechanisms of development and maintenance of VACcine-induced immunological MEMory and their implications for the duration of protection and the National Immunisation Strategies – The VACMEM project
Sonia McAlister
The Kids Research Institute Australia, Australia
Development of a pneumococcal Systems Serology platform for multidimensional functional profiling of serotype-specific vaccine responses
Fulgence Niyibitegeka
Melbourne University, Australia
Developing a budget optimisation framework to evaluate PCV vaccination strategies under constrained financing in LMICs: a comparative analysis of lower-cost products, reduced schedules, and fractional dosing
John Njuma Libwea
Cameroon Academy of Sciences, Cameroon
Pneumococcal carriage and serotype distribution in Cameroon fifteen years after 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine implementation: A post–COVID-19 population-based study
Adriano Palharini De Araújo
Instituto Butantan, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Extracellular vesicles as a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae: proteomic analysis for evaluation of antigens determining protection
Hieu Truong
Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Post-introduction impact of PCV13 on pneumococcal carriage, population genomics, antimicrobial resistance, and cost-effectiveness in Vietnamese children
Amusa Wamawobe
Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme, Malawi
Impact of a PCV13 booster dose administered to toddlers and preschoolers on within-household transmission of vaccine escape pneumococcal lineages in Malawi
Xueqing Wu
Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine Zhejiang University, China
Capsule mediated autolysin substrate accessibility drives premature pneumococcal autolysis in the pathogenesis of meningitis
Young Investigator Award
ISPPD will grant abstract awards to young investigators presenting their abstracts during the ISPPD-14 Symposium in Copenhagen, Denmark. The goal of this award is to inspire young investigators to continue research on pneumococci and pneumococcal diseases by recognizing outstanding scientific investigations.
2024 YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD WINNERS
Feroze Ganaie, United States
DISCOVERY OF A NOVEL PNEUMOCOCCAL CAPSULE TYPE 33E THAT HAS EMERGED FROM VACCINE TYPE 33F VIA A SINGLE GENE INACTIVATION AND MAY EVADE 33F-INDUCED IMMUNITY
Dennis Hoving, Netherlands
PNEUMOCOCCAL IMMUNIZATION AND SEROTYPE-SPECIFIC B CELLS: INTEGRATING IMMUNIZATION METHOD AND RISK OF COLONIZATION WITH CELLULAR FREQUENCY AND PHENOTYPE
Jackie Kleynhans, South Africa
LABORATORY-CONFIRMED INVASIVE PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER THE SARS-COV-2 PANDEMIC
Lusako Sibale, Malawi
WITHIN-HOST PNEUMOCOCCAL SEROTYPE 3 GENETIC DIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION DURING A ONE-YEAR PROLONGED CARRIAGE EPISODE IN A HEALTHY ADULT
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Travel Grants
ISPPD will award Travel and/or Participation Grants in the ISPPD-14 Symposium. The Travel Grant will be awarded to selected applicants who fulfil the specified criteria.
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RARA APPLICATION INFORMATION COMING SOON!
RARA APPLICATION INFORMATION COMING SOON!