Alain Vanderplasschen, professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Liege where he heads the Laboratory of Immunology and Vaccinology, receives this Saturday, December 10 at the Palais des Académies in Brussels the GSK Vaccines Prize, the most important in Belgium in the field of vaccinology. This is the first time since its creation in 1959 that this prestigious scientific prize is awarded to a researcher in veterinary sciences.
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he GSK Vaccines Prize rewards the original work of Alain Vanderplasschen in the study and development of a vaccine against the carp herpesvirus (Cyprinid herpesvirus 3, also called Koi Herpesvirus or KHV). Since the beginning of the year 2000, this virus has been causing havoc at the world level in common carp and koi carp farms. The stakes are high: common carp is one of the most widely farmed fish with a world production of 4.5 million tons per year. It represents an important source of animal protein in the diet of millions of people mainly in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, while its subspecies the koi carp is an ornamental fish that can be worth up to 100,000 euros. The common and koi carps represent a real economic and food pillar for millions of people in the world.
After sequencing the KHV genome, Prof. Alain Vanderplasschen and his team developed an original vaccine by genetically modifying the virus in such a way as to render it incapable of making fish sick, while preserving the virus' ability to initiate a mild infection. The vaccine, administered directly into the fish tanks, stimulates the fish's immune system and protects them from the disease. This patented process is now in full economic development. "In the case of KHV, we "attenuated" the deadly virus to make a vaccine by genetically engineering it to remove a gene essential to its virulence. Our vaccine is therefore a GMO. Our work illustrates the fact that some GMOs have a beneficial potential by protecting the lives of animals that, without vaccination, would have succumbed to the virus in excruciating pain," says Prof. Alain Vanderplasschen.
The experience acquired with KHV has encouraged Prof. Alain Vanderplasschen's team to continue its research on other animal pathogens, particularly those that decimate endangered species such as the European eel. "This research on host-pathogen relationships makes it possible to reconcile two objectives: to advance scientific knowledge on a fundamental level while providing a solution to combat viruses with a significant economic or ecological impact," explains Alain Vanderplasschen.
About Alain Vanderplasschen
Alain Vanderplasschen was born on June 27, 1967. In 1985, he started studying Veterinary Medicine at the veterinary school of Cureghem (Brussels, University of Liege). At the end of his second year, he was spotted by Prof. Paul-Pierre Pastoret who taught immunology. In parallel to his studies, Alain Vanderplasschen will be a student-researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Pastoret who will progressively become for him a spiritual father. After graduating as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1991, with the highest distinction (University of Liège), he started his scientific career as an aspirant of the FNRS in the laboratory of Prof. Pastoret. He completed his PhD thesis on the interactions between bovine cells and bovine herpesvirus 4 (Immunology-Vaccinology laboratory, University of Liège). He then left for Oxford University where he did an aggregation thesis on vaccinia virus (the virus that allowed the eradication of human smallpox) in the laboratory of Prof. G.L. Smith (Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford University)
Back in Liège in 1998, Alain Vanderplasschen continued his career at the FNRS and became the first veterinarian to obtain a permanent position in the history of the FNRS. He then climbed all the steps of the FNRS career by becoming a research master in 2002 and research director in 2006. He is then 39 years old and is the youngest research director of the FNRS. In 2007, he left the FNRS to succeed his Master and became Professor of Immunology-Vaccinology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Liege. His research focuses on the study of host-pathogen interactions and more particularly on the mechanisms developed by pathogens to protect themselves or even to use the immune system of the infected host (a theme called immuno-evasion). Alain Vanderplasschen's laboratory is also at the origin of several innovations in the field of animal vaccinology. Alain Vanderplasschen is the promoter of numerous defended doctoral theses and the author of more than 140 publications in the fields of microbiology, immunology and vaccinology. He is also the inventor of 6 patents related to the identification of inhibitors of the complement system in the saliva of the tick Ixodes ricinus and the development of various vaccines. He is the recipient of several prestigious scientific awards.
Prof. Alain Vanderplasschen is a researcher who accumulates firsts since he became the first veterinarian to receive the GSK Vaccines award, created in 1959. This prestigious prize, which rewards a remarkable research career docked on host-pathogen relations in the animal world, was awarded to him at the Palais des Académies in Brussels on December 10, 2016 in the presence of prestigious personalities.
