Developing bovine immune organoids for the screening of vaccine candidates

This award aims to reduce the number of cattle in vaccine research by developing organoids from bovine lymph node tissue to screen vaccine candidates.

Vaccines are used in the farming industry to protect cattle from disease, preventing negative welfare and economic impacts. However, some vaccines have limited efficacy and some cattle diseases do not yet have a vaccine. There are few in vitro models suitable for vaccine efficacy study meaning vaccines are tested in cattle to confirm protection from disease. To reduce the number of cattle needed in vaccine research, Dr Rachel Tanner will develop an immune organoid model using bovine lymph node material. This builds on the 3Rs Prize-winning method developed by Dr Lisa Wagar using human lymph tissue to streamline vaccine development. Rachel will compare the immune response in the bovine lymph organoids to TB vaccines previously used in in vivo studies.