Euroscience Open Forum 2012

The world in the 21st century is faced with a myriad of global health problems which can only be solved by scientific cooperation and subsequent breakthroughs. It is therefore crucial to coordinate efforts in research, education and funding to foster an enabling environment in which out-of-the-box thinking is encouraged and innovation can deliver products.
The European vaccine research field serves as the ultimate example. The main knowledge gap within vaccine research is the lack of understanding of the immunological mechanisms mediating protection. In order to deliver the vaccines of tomorrow, the field needs to re-engineer its thinking and endorse an innovation fostering, long term vision for vaccine design and immunology.
The interdependencies of the policy areas for vaccinology are a general example of how inter-agency cooperation must be promoted to achieve success, which will guarantee access to knowledge, and will ultimately contribute to efficiency, better jobs and new products, such as innovative vaccines.