Researchers at the Department of Veterinary Medicine have been awarded approximately £3.4 million in grant funding to develop cutting-edge, artificial intelligence-enabled vaccine technology aimed at protecting against emerging animal and zoonotic pathogens.
The three-year project, led by Professor Jonathan Heeney and his team at the Laboratory of Viral Zoonotics based at the Department of Veterinary Medicine alongside colleagues Professor Dan Tucker, Dr Sneha Vishwanath, and Dr Daniel Storisteanu, is a joint effort with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Cambridge spin-out company DIOSynVax.
Co-funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Defra, the grant is part of a £54 million national investment across 18 projects aimed at tackling future disease outbreaks, protecting food supplies, and curbing antimicrobial resistance. Read the national story on the UKRI news page here.
How AI is changing vaccine design
Most traditional animal vaccines are created using older versions of a virus. While they work well against known strains, they often fail when a virus mutates into something new. Because emerging viruses can spread quickly between livestock, wildlife, and people, scientists need a way to respond much faster.
The Cambridge team is using AI to analyse decades of viral data and design flexible, "plug-and-play" vaccine components. Instead of starting from scratch every time a new variant appears, this approach creates vaccines that offer broader protection against multiple strains before they can cause major outbreaks.
The announcement comes alongside a new study published in the Journal of Virology this week by Professor Heeney’s team, DIOSynVax, and APHA, demonstrating that this approach works in practice.
Pigs are a major source of flu viruses because they can catch bird, pig, and human flu at the same time, giving different strains a chance to mix and create dangerous new variants - much like the 2009 swine flu pandemic. In tests, the team’s computer-designed flu vaccine protected pigs not just against the target strain, but against a wide range of different human and swine flu viruses.
Professor Jonathan Heeney, Professor of Research in Vaccinology at the University of Cambridge and founder of DIOSynVax, said:
"Many of the greatest infectious disease threats facing humanity emerge when and where animals and humans closely interact. Our newly published influenza study demonstrates that computationally designed vaccine antigens can provide broad protection against viruses circulating in both humans and animals. Combined with this important new UKRI and Government investment, we have an opportunity to accelerate development of adaptable vaccine technologies that can help protect animal and thus human health, strengthen food security, and develop improved, broadly protective vaccines to prepare and hopefully contain, control and prevent future epidemics and pandemics.
"Artificial intelligence is transforming our ability to anticipate viral evolution and design vaccines proactively rather than reactively. Our goal is to create broadly protective vaccine antigens that can be plugged into different animal and human vaccine platforms and therefore enable a much faster, more effective response to emerging biological threats while advancing the UK's leadership in biosecurity innovation."
Tackling superbugs on farms
Department of Veterinary Medicine researchers are also contributing to a second initiative funded under the same £54 million investment titled ‘AMAST phase two: cultivating mindsets and practices for antimicrobial stewardship in agrifood systems.’
The AMAST (Antimicrobial Resistance in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary) Network brings together 13 research organisations alongside farmers, vets, and government partners to find practical ways to reduce antibiotic use in UK farming, focusing on swine and cattle health while keeping medicines effective for the future.
Professor Dan Tucker, Professor of Veterinary Public Health at the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Cambridge said:
“It is wonderful to see Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine represented on more than one of these projects - allowing us to contribute our combined strengths in vaccine design, livestock infectious diseases, and antimicrobial resistance research. Our vet school has a long history of infectious disease and One Health research that make real differences to livestock health and welfare, farmers’ livelihoods and ultimately society.”
Professor Nick Bexfield and Professor Caroline Trotter, joint interim Heads of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, said:
“We are delighted by this news, which highlights the incredible quality and diversity of work taking place across our department. Warmest congratulations to everyone involved in driving this vital research forward.”
Together, these initiatives put our researchers at the forefront of national biosecurity, combining pioneering technology to safeguard animal health, protect public health, and build resilience against future biological threats.
Cambridge Independent Science 14-10-26.pdf(321.14 KB)
