The University of Antwerp and the University of Kinshasa, respectively Sponsor and Principal Investigator of the Ebola vaccine trial (EBOVAC3), jointly organized a Dissemination Conference on 4 and 5 April 2024 in Boende, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This vaccine trial was performed between December 2019 and October 2022, with health care providers and frontliners as participants, as they are more at risk of contracting and spreading the Ebola virus disease. The primary and secondary objectives of the trial were to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the Ad26.ZEBOV, MVA-BN-Filo vaccine regimen, administered at a 56-day interval, and of an Ad26.ZEBOV booster administered after either 1 or 2 years. Overall, the vaccine regimen and booster dose were well-tolerated and led to a durable immune response in study participants.
The Dissemination Conference presented these results, as well as realizations and lessons learned from the trial and related scientific activities. The main sessions focused on the
- ‘Ebola Vaccine Trial and Conference Objectives’,
- ‘Overview on the vaccine Safety and Immunogenicity findings’, and
- ‘Overview of Social Sciences activities and findings’.
The prime objective was to distribute all findings to the local community and participant population, an element often neglected in international research. “Most of the time, as researchers, we collect data, publish in international journals, and go to international conferences. But the people who contributed to generating the data are not even aware of these results. We thought it was relevant to come back to them and explain the results of our research in the language that they understand. This is what researchers should always think about; going back to the field, and informing the participants. Over the last few days, the participants asked a lot of questions, which means that they were able to understand and that they were enthusiastic to learn more about the Ebola viral disease and the protection”, said Prof. Hypolite Muhindo, principal investigator of the Ebola vaccine trial.
Additionally, national and international stakeholders also attended the event, such as the local and national (health) authorities and the president and vice-president of the national Health Ethics Committee. Given the remote setting, and long travel distances to reach the study setting, many attendees were together for several days, which contributed to fruitful and extensive interactions between the different institutions and stakeholders present.
Lastly, during this time, our research team also assessed stakeholders’ expectations and appreciation of the Dissemination Conference. A short survey and several focus group discussions were employed to capture participants’ overall satisfaction with the event. These findings, as well as our experiences with the organization of the conference, will serve as lessons learned for our future (international) research activities and dissemination initiatives, which can contribute to transparency, open communication and, ultimately, enhance trust in research.