On May 27th, 2025, Julie Odgaard Vedel successfully defended her PhD thesis at the University of Southern Denmark. Her thesis, titled “The gap between the planned and real-life implementation of the vaccination programme: Timely and effective BCG vaccination in Guinea-Bissau”, is based on her research at the Bandim Health Project in Guinea-Bissau.

The defense took place at The National Institute of Public Health at SDU, where Julie was recognized for her significant research contribution.

Warm congratulations to Julie on this great achievement!

We are very happy that Julie has decided to continue her work with us as a Post doc on the study “Providing BCG revaccination with the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine to improve female survival in Africa“

lsaquel is currently enrolled as a PhD student at the University of Southern Denmark, he continues to pursue knowledge and innovation in his mission to positively impact the lives of mothers and children.

Thus. lsaquel’s academic journey reflects not only his determination to further his own education, but also his contribution to expanding the medical understanding of maternal and child health to diminish the high maternal and child mortality that still is a reality in Guinea-Bissau and many other low­ income settings. Though still young, he already, due to the situation in his country, plays an important role in the health care system.

Furthermore, his commitment to education and knowledge dissemination is evident in his engagement with his own staff and with the public and the medical community. In this and many other ways, lsaquel has become a role model for the young medical professionals in his country.

Det er normalt et privilegium, at ens forskning er genstand for Weekendavisens opmærksomhed.

Desværre er det ikke tilfældet i tre artikler, som Weekendavisen har trykt den 21. februar, 5. marts og 4. april, 2025.

Her iscenesættes et karaktermord på et konstrueret grundlag, men jo alligevel med intenderet skadevirkning.

Læs vores svar punkt for punkt og om weekendavisens skattejagt idet journalisten Gunver Vestergård har søgt aktindsigt ved de institutioner Bandim Health Project har været tilknyttet.

Til SSI har Weekendavisens journalist Gunver Vestergård specifikt tilføjet: “Såfremt I er i besiddelse af den WHO-rapport, som formodentligt blev udarbejdet efter en WHO-undersøgelse af Bandim Health Project, vil jeg gerne søge aktindsigt i den. På et tidspunkt, formodentligt i 90’erne eller 00’erne, besøgte WHO Bandim Health Project i Guinea-Bissau. De brugte mindst en uge på at undersøge al dataindsamling og interviewe alle medarbejdere. Jeg antager, at der kom en rapport ud af besøget, som også må være sendt til de ansvarlige for Bandim, dvs SSI på det tidspunkt. Jeg har også forespurgt WHO om rapporten, men har ikke fået svar. Hvis I har en sådan rapport i jeres arkiver, vil jeg gerne søge aktindsigt i den.”

Vi giver her et kort resume og deler WHO´s rapport artikler, så alle kan se, at det ikke var tilfældet.

In this article Peter Aaby and Christine Stabell Benn describes some of the discrediting that their research into non-specific effects of vaccines is experiencing. A lot is related to a simplistic and outdated view on the p-value as a factor that can discriminate between important and not important.

Vi har reviewet denne artikel, der for en stor dels vedkommende er baseret på vores forskning i DTP-vaccinen. Vi er taknemmelige for interessen for området, men det er vigtig, at forskningen præsenteres så korrekt som muligt.

Som det fremgår, er artiklen karakteriseret ved selektiv rapportering og misforståelser af de oprindelige artikler.

A team of nine researchers from five faculties at the University of Southern Denmark, have been on an excursion to Guinea-Bissau to collaborate with the Bandim Health Project. To explore the potential of interdisciplinary approaches in tackling complex problems, each researcher brought unique perspectives and areas of expertise to the table. 

The medal is awarded by The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, for outstanding research leading to improvement of health in the tropics.

OPTIMMUNIZE is an international, not-for-profit organization, focused on vaccine program optimization.

In November 2022 OPTIMMUNIZE organized a conference in Odense with the topic: Optimizing the beneficial non-specific effects (NSEs) of vaccines.

The world-leading scientific journal “Nature” has made a list of the major milestones in vaccines. The discovery of the beneficial non-specific effects of live attenuated vaccines  made by Peter Aaby in 1984 was one of them (milestone 13). 

Bandim Health Project have published three books in the last 40 years with “Forty years of contradicting conventional wisdom 1978 – 2018” being the latest.

Vaccines do much more than protect against the disease they are designed for.

Watch this talk from TEDxAarhus 2018 by medical doctor and professor in global health Christine Stabell Benn, and learn how hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved every year just by using the existing vaccines smarter.

This podcast investigates vaccines and does so with curiosity.

Whether it is from a medical or a personal angle each guest offers different perspectives on what we know about vaccines.

Your host is professor in global health from University of Southern Denmark, Christine Stabell Benn.

Listen to the podcast on ITUNES