The Globe and Mail: University of Victoria Researcher Close to Developing Syphilis Vaccine

By Andrea Woo

A University of Victoria researcher says she and a colleague are close to developing a vaccine for syphilis, a disease that has reached its highest rates in B.C. in 30 years.

Microbiologist Caroline Cameron and Sheila Lukehart, a professor in the University of Washington’s department of global health, have received a nearly $3-million grant from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. The grant will help fund preclinical trials.

Times Colonist: As Syphilis Cases Rise, UVic Leads Search for a Vaccine

By Richard Watts

A University of Victoria microbiologist and her American colleague are looking for a vaccine to prevent syphilis, a venereal disease on the rise worldwide.

UVic’s Caroline Cameron, a professor of biochemistry and microbiology, is joining with University of Washington’s Sheila Lukehart, a professor of medicine and global health, to develop a vaccine to stop syphilis before it gets started in a body.

“It’s a preventive treatment, not a cure,” Cameron said.