"Rapid Response" Science -- Developing a Vaccine for Novel Coronavirus

Alyson Kelvin, (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press)

"I work from waking up until going to sleep. My whole life has shifted. My husband and children are back in Halifax."
"It's especially important [developing a meticulous method in avoidance of safety risks] because the original SARS vaccines weren't effective and sometimes led to more severe disease in the end. So, this is an important stage of the evaluation [of potential vaccines against novel coronavaris]."
"We may see waves of it [coronavirus] in the same way we do with influenza. ... Having a vaccine and being ready for this particular virus could help us if that becomes a reality."
Alyson Kelvin, 39, virologist, International Vaccine Centre, Saskatoon

David Kelvin, (Submitted by David Kelvin)

"Rather than going through a lengthy process of days, we can do it [biomarkers test to identify severity of the virus] rapidly and provide assistance to doctors who are looking at a surge of patients and can decide who should receive hospitalization at the earlier stages of the disease."
"This call for the initial research was $1 million. It's a fantastic initial start."
"We realize and know that to continue this through the full duration of the infection cycle, we're going to have to have a lot more investment."
David Kelvin, 65, professor, department of microbiology and immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax

Father and daughter, both are scientists who have taken on a professional dedication to fighting global infectious diseases. And now the novel coronavirus has led them to an exhausting trial in the creation of tests and vaccines in short order in reflection of a global pandemic, in pursuit of saving lives. Dr.Alyson Kelvin normally works at Dalhousie University but now is seconded to the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization laboratory in Saskatoon, and has been there since mid-February.

Her work has her focusing on testing vaccines in laboratory animals. Her father, stationed in Halifax is immersed in the creation of a portable test kit meant to identify the severity of the disease in people who have tested positive for the virus. What they are working on is a field identified as "rapid response" science; fast-tracking a collaborative search, supported by federal funding, with other scientists working on the pandemic, from around the globe.

Dr. Alyson had watched her father work on HIV-AIDS, when she was young and this was her life-work inspiration in a career that has seen her work on the first SARS outbreak, the Zika virus and a number of influenza outbreaks, while her father has similarly been at work on many of the same outbreaks. Among Dr.David Kelvin's projects is a thrust on identifying "biomarkers" -- molecules activating white blood cells -- to indicate whether someone who tests positive for coronavirus is at risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19.

The creation of a kit to allow health-care providers to swiftly determine who requires hospitalization would potentially keep beds and respirators vitally needed, open for those patients identified as being most in need of them. Dr.Alyson, along with a doctoral student and technician from Dalhousie works with Darryl Falzarano, coronavirus investigator at the International Vaccine Centre, carrying out animal model tests for potential vaccines.

Her team is currently working with three vaccines that molecular virologist Chris Richardson -- a scientist at  Dalhousie University -- developed. Dr.Richardson has had experience in his field of professional expertise for the past forty years, and cautions that such vaccine research normally takes several years. "Typically it could be two years and clinical trials can go even further."

Dr.David Kelvin is hopeful that the biomarkers for the test kits will result from collaboration with scientists he is connected with in China and Italy, in four to ten weeks, with further work required to connect with commercial collaborators who might be interested in producing the kits. "We can experimentally induce viral infections and disease, and we can evaluate the kits using samples from our experiments before they're used in people", explained Dr.Alyson.

Her father is concerned with persuading government to reflect on whether funding for vaccine research should have been available sooner, much less on a steady basis. "We need to impress on everyone this is our third pandemic in 20 years. We don't want to respond in an emergency fashion every time. We want to be really well prepared."

Alyson Kelvin is working with three vaccines developed by a Halifax molecular virologist and a vaccine developed by a scientist at the centre. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press)