Simon J. Draper is professor of Vaccinology and Translational Medicine at Oxford University. His research interests include studies of vaccine-induced malaria immunity as well as the optimization of antibody and B cell induction by subunit vaccines. In recent years, his group has developed new vaccines targeting two major blood-stage antigens from the human malaria parasites Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax. This work has been translated into 14 Phase I/II clinical trials conducted in Oxford and Africa, including efficacy studies using controlled human malaria infection (CHMI). Many aspects of the lab’s work are conducted in partnerships with various stakeholders, including other academics and industry.

Professor Draper’s work is also focusing on the isolation of human monoclonal antibodies from vaccinated volunteers in clinical trials, seeking to understand the mechanisms underlying the human antibody response to key antigens and to further develop these for prophylactic or therapeutic human delivery. These technologies have been applied to both malaria and Ebolavirus, providing a platform that can be widely applied across many disease areas. In 2017, Professor Draper co-founded a spin-off company called, SpyBiotech, which is developing vaccines using a proprietary virus-like particle (VLP) technology combined with a conjugation technology to enable “plug-and-display” of complex antigens. His academic work on malaria antibodies is funded by a Senior Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and he was awarded a prestigious Research Prize Fellowship by the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine for his work on vaccines and antibodies in 2013.