Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

The University of Oxford is to benefit from $2 million (£1.49 million) in funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to investigate how our ancestry and diversity influence the way that vaccines work in our cells.

Illustration of DNA strand being studied by researchers

In partnership with Imperial College London and the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the Lymph nodE single-cell Genomics AnCestrY (LEGACY) Network will create an ethnically diverse single-cell atlas of the response to commonly used vaccines such as flu vaccine with a focus on responses in lymph nodes. The LEGACY vision is to understand and ultimately to predict how humans respond to vaccination at a single-cell level, whilst simultaneously creating universally available on-line materials as resources for further research.

The Oxford team includes a number of investigators across several departments:

The Oxford researchers will analyse samples provided by Imperial College using single-cell technology and genetic, functional and serological assays to generate the atlas and data resource. The funds cover the costs of sample analysis, creation of the team performing the functional and computational analyses, community outreach initiatives and training costs for capacity building in Uganda.

Read the full story on the University of Oxford website