{"id":24533,"date":"2021-03-01T09:32:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T08:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=24533"},"modified":"2021-03-01T14:43:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T13:43:13","slug":"dr-eszter-bari-from-semmelweis-university-to-american-covid-vaccine-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2021\/03\/dr-eszter-bari-from-semmelweis-university-to-american-covid-vaccine-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Eszter B\u00e1ri – From Semmelweis University to American COVID vaccine development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Eszter B\u00e1ri (Hud\u00e1k) graduated from Semmelweis University in 2004 with a medical degree, and now, as a research <\/span>manager,<\/span> she has been at the forefront of coronavirus vaccine development. <\/span>I<\/span>n Australia, <\/span>s<\/span>he led the test phase of the American Novavax vaccine. <\/span>In addition to her university years, she also spoke about how her career evolved and how she became a <\/span>research manager <\/span>in vaccine development.<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

How do you remember your years at Semmelweis University as a student?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The time spent at the university was very decisive for me, I enjoyed being a university citizen and the dormitory life on T\u00f6m\u0151 <\/span>s<\/span>treet. T<\/span>he <\/span>Biology lectures by <\/span>Dr. <\/span>Gy\u00f6rgy Csaba, <\/span>the<\/span> Physiology lessons of <\/span>Dr. <\/span>M\u00e1rk Kollai, <\/span>the<\/span> internal medicine practices <\/span>of Dr. Istv\u00e1n Kar\u00e1di and Dr. Andr\u00e1s Kerkovits a<\/span>nd <\/span>the classes in pediatrics by D<\/span>r. Gy\u00f6rgy Fekete <\/span>are all unforgettable memories to me. I started university with the intention of becoming an obstetrician-gynecologist, this had been my dream since I was a teenager. After my first year of studies, <\/span>I spent <\/span>the summer nursing practice <\/span>at<\/span> the <\/span>2<\/span>nd<\/span> Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and then I turned to pediatric gynecology and endocrinology. <\/span>During my 5<\/span>th<\/span> year for a short time<\/span>, I <\/span>was doing<\/span> scientific work <\/span>under the supervision of Dr.<\/span> \u00c9va Hossz\u00fa <\/span>at the 2<\/span>nd<\/span> Department of Pediatrics<\/span>, where I <\/span>examined<\/span> the effect of corticosteroid treatment on bone growth in children born with adrenogenital syndrome. Unfortunately, I developed a severe metal allergy, so it became clear that I could not be a practicing physician, <\/span>therefore<\/span> my focus <\/span>shifted more and more <\/span>towards prevention. It was a great honor for me <\/span>when D<\/span>r. Endre Morava, <\/span>who used to be the head<\/span> of the Department of Public Health <\/span>Sciences then, <\/span>accepted my application in 2004 and <\/span>I <\/span>was able to start my residency in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. My mentor <\/span>was Dr. <\/span>Judit Forrai, whose <\/span>respect towards her <\/span>profession and <\/span>the <\/span>tireless professional curiosity <\/span>taught me a great deal<\/span> both professionally and <\/span>personally.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wer<\/span>e you already interested in epidemics and vaccines <\/span>at that time<\/span>?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2005, I was admitted to the National Epidemiological Center, where I started to work at the Department of Epidemiology headed by Dr. \u00c1gnes Csoh\u00e1n, where I worked with Dr. Zsuzsanna Moln\u00e1r, Chief Physician focusing on influenza. I also had the opportunity to take part in the disease control of the avian influenza H5N1\u00a0 pandemic, preparing for the pandemic in Hungary. I was lucky to meet with highly knowledgeable virologists like Dr. Gy\u00f6rgy Berencsi, Dr. Istv\u00e1n Jankovics and I was able to hold the H5N1 vaccine developed in Hungary, in my hands. Finally, thanks to a European Union scholarship, I graduated from the University of Maastricht in Master of Public Health in Epidemiology.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did you choose your career as a research <\/span>manager<\/span>? <\/span>How did you get <\/span>to Germany and then to Australia?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo (illustration): Attila Kov\u00e1cs, Semmelweis University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While writing my dissertation at the University of Maastricht, I was able to gain insight into conducting and analysing observational studies. I investigated the relationship between body mass index and von Hippel-Lindau gene mutation in the development of pure cellular renal cell carcinoma using data from a follow-up cohort study covering the entire Netherlands initiated in 1986 and involving one hundred and twenty thousand subjects. In 2007, I met my future husband in Belgium, who had been living in Germany for years at the time, and we made the decision to continue our life together there. I applied to an international research management company, where I was able to use my English language knowledge and my epidemiological experiences at the University of Maastricht in my work. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I was the first Hungarian employee at the company and during my time there I also established cooperation with two departments of Semmelweis University. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Later, my husband and I moved to Australia, where I received a research manager position at a German medical device company. I have been working in the clinical drug and device testing industry for a total of 14 years, and this is my ninth year in Australia.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does it feel to play a decisive role in the clinical trial of a drug that is surrou<\/span>nded <\/span>by such attention and anticipation worldwide?<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

I have taken part in the development of many life-changing products before. I participated in the a study of an oncology product where 75% of breast cancer patients were alive at the end of the 14-year follow-up study. <\/span>I also led the entire team in the Asia-Pacific region in a <\/span>P<\/span>hase II, III study of a revolutionary pancreatic adenocarcinoma preparation. <\/span>Furthermore, <\/span>I was part of a clinical trial of the world’s first MRI-compatible pacemaker and implanted defibrillator, developed by the aforementioned German medical device manufacturer. <\/span><\/p>\n

A pandemic is a new situation for me, so I was excited and curious when I accepted the invitation to lead the trial of the COVID vaccine. I consider myself lucky to be able to work with Australia\u2019s <\/span>most outstanding<\/span> physicians and to have been able to attend lectures where I have learned the detailed immunological background as well as the latest research findings. <\/span><\/p>\n

The interim statistical analysis of <\/span>P<\/span>hase <\/span>II<\/span> is <\/span>still ongoing <\/span>at the time of the interview, the database was closed on 4 December, 2020. Since then, I have been asked to lead the medical monitoring of the data of\u00a0 Phase III running in the UK. <\/span>T<\/span>he first efficacy results of that study were published on 28 January, 2021: the formulation proved to be 89.3% effective against the UK coronavirus variant, <\/span>so <\/span>the results are are promising.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

P\u00e1lma Dobozi
\nSource of portrait photo: Eszter B\u00e1ri
\nTranslation: Katalin Ill\u00e9s-Romh\u00e1nyi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Eszter B\u00e1ri (Hud\u00e1k) was at the forefront of the development of one of the coronavirus vaccines as a research manager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101126,"featured_media":24531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,17],"tags":[127,157],"class_list":["post-24533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-semmelweis-world","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24533"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24540,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24533\/revisions\/24540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}