Sushant Sahastrabuddhe | Associate Director General
International Vaccine Institute

Dr. Sushant Sahastrabuddhe (MD, MPH, MBA) is the Associate Director General for the Innovation, Initiatives and Enterprise Development unit at the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul, South Korea. Sushant is working at IVI since 15 years and has led multiple vaccine development programs involving typhoid conjugate, Chikungunya, and COVID-19 vaccines. Sushant is a medical graduate from India with Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA and an MBA from the Indiana University, USA. Before joining IVI, Sushant worked with National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) under the umbrella of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). Sushant has over 40 manuscripts and 2 book chapters and is affiliated with Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea as Adjunct Professor in the College of Medicine; Research Fellow, at CIRI – Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, Team GIMAP, Université Jean Monnet, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France and Visting Professor, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Dynamics, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Japan. Sushant has been awarded with Honorary citizenship from Seoul Metropolitan Government for his contributions to global public health in 2021.

Appearances:

Day 2 (21st October) @ 12:15

Panel: The New Geography of Vaccine Innovation: Why the Next Decade of Vaccine Development Will Be Driven by LMICs

The next decade of vaccine development will increasingly depend on the ability of LMICs to build sustainable capabilities for research, innovation, financing, and clinical development. As the global vaccine ecosystem evolves, LMICs are moving beyond their traditional role as sites for clinical research and becoming increasingly important contributors to vaccine innovation.

This panel will explore three critical dimensions of this transformation:

Building sustainable vaccine innovation ecosystems: strengthening scientific leadership, developing sustainable clinical trial networks and innovation hubs, leveraging AI and emerging technologies, and connecting clinical research capabilities with manufacturing innovation, including RNA technologies.
Financing vaccine clinical research: exploring how vaccine development can remain sustainable amid constrained global health funding, including the role of blended finance, funding agencies, and locally led financing mechanisms.
Strengthening regulatory and clinical ecosystems: examining opportunities for greater regulatory interoperability and regional harmonization, including the use of master protocols, while maintaining rigorous scientific standards. The discussion will also address logistical challenges, pharmacovigilance, and post-trial safety surveillance.

Together, these perspectives will examine what is needed to create resilient, locally anchored vaccine ecosystems in LMICs and how stronger scientific, financial, regulatory, and technological foundations can contribute to the next generation of vaccine innovation.

Session led by: Emmes Biopharma Services LLC

Raman Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Hilleman Laboratories Singapore Pte Ltd