Grant: TG: Biomedical Research for HIV/AIDS and STBBI-Next-Gen. Prevention Technologies

Infectious syphilis rates have surged across Canada and the world, with the Canadian prairie provinces seeing a staggering 400% increase from 2016 to 2020. This uptick has extended into heterosexual populations, resulting in a notable rise in congenital syphilis cases. The limited availability of genomic data-due to the technical difficulties in isolating and culturing the bacterium that causes syphilis-has significantly hindered efforts to explore global genomic diversity and its correlation with local epidemiological patterns. Moreover, these challenges have slowed the development of an effective vaccine that could prevent both community and congenital transmission worldwide. We propose a novel approach that integrates community engagement, genomic surveillance, and next-generation vaccine technology, to develop a universal syphilis vaccine with global appeal. These novel aims are designed to fill critical knowledge gaps in the genetic diversity of syphilis, with a focus on community-minded vaccine development. The aims of this proposal are to: Design public health approaches for community engagement and syphilis vaccine uptake (Aim 1); Identify global diversity of vaccine candidates through whole genome sequencing (Aim 2); and Test novel vaccine candidates using next-generation vaccine technology (Aim 3).