Meet Vax2Muc young scientists: Martina Bardino Mørch
The Vax2Muc consortium brings together ten partners, including five universities, three research organisations and two SMEs. From them, a group of accomplished scientists with a wide breadth of knowledge and expertise have come together to search for next-generation vaccines. In the "Meet Vax2Muc young scientists" series, we introduce some of the bright minds working on the project, focusing on early-career academics.
On the occasion of World Immunisation Week 2025, we spoke with Martina Bardino Mørch, a PhD student at the Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Denmark. The 27-year-old has been working on the project for almost a year now, contributing to the search for a H. pylori vaccine.
We spoke with her about her work, project research collaboration, and the project's contribution to innovative vaccine research.
You’ve been working on the Vax2Muc project as part of the SSI team since last May. How did your studies and previous work experience lead you to this post?
I have a bachelor's degree in biomedicine, and it was during those studies I discovered the incredible beauty and complexity of the immune system, which inspired me to pursue a master’s in immunology. My main interest lies within infectious diseases; I have previously worked with Streptococcus infections in the blood, respiratory tract and oral cavity. I have also investigated the differences between biofilm, planktonic and dispersed bacteria, and how these differences influence bacterial interactions with the innate immune system. When I had the opportunity to combine my passion for infectious diseases with vaccine development through the Vax2Muc project, it felt like a natural and exciting progression in my career.
You are working on your PhD as part of the Vax2Muc project. Could you tell us a bit about your work and how it fits into the wider research on this project?
An important part of the Vax2Muc project involves novel research on optimizing both antigen design and delivery, particularly for oral vaccines. My current work focuses on enhancing the immunogenicity of mucosal antigens by developing strategies to target the mucosal epithelium directly, which should improve antigen uptake and thereby strengthen the mucosal immune response. In the long term, we aim to integrate these targeting strategies into the Vax2Muc vaccine construct, with the goal of creating a versatile platform that could also be applied to mucosal vaccines against other pathogens. I’m currently focusing on in silico modeling and in vitro assays – with the aim of progressing to in vivo studies in the near future.
Martina Bardino Mørch at the International Congress of Mucosal Immunology in Copenhagen, July 2024.
You and other PhD students working on this project get to collaborate with senior scientists not only in your institutions but internationally. How do you think these collaborations benefit everyone involved?
As a PhD student who is still learning to become a researcher, the opportunity to listen, learn and discuss with leading scientists within their fields from all over Europe is a golden opportunity. No one can be an expert on everything, and that is why it is so important that we utilise expert knowledge from different partners and combine it to make the project as strong as possible. This way, we can hopefully also avoid some of the pitfalls as we can learn from each other’s previous mistakes and experiences. The opportunity to also talk and discuss with other PhD students who are in a similar place in their career is also rewarding, as we can relate to each other’s struggles and successes.
The last week of April is World Immunisation Week, dedicated to spreading awareness about the importance of vaccines in protecting global public health. How does the research done in Vax2Muc fit into this picture?
The research done within Vax2Muc closely aligns with the themes of World Immunisation Week, which promotes the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease. The project’s focus on preventing H. pylori infection through mucosal immunisation reflects the message of expanding access to innovative vaccines, and it also supports the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
What do you find most interesting in this work? What do you find challenging?
This is my first experience with translational research, where the ultimate goal is to develop a vaccine that can reach the market. It’s a long and complex journey, and I’ve already learned a great deal about the specific requirements and challenges that come with working in more product- and goal-oriented research, compared to purely experimental work. Gaining insight into the production side of the project has been new for me, but it has also given me a deeper understanding of – and respect for – the work done by researchers in translational and clinical science.
This interview is part of a series “Meet Vax2Muc young scientists”. You can read previous interviews here (Cora Mibus) and here (Nicole O’Sullivan).
