From lecture halls to manufacturing floors, DCVMN CEO Rajinder Suri spent this week in South Korea engaging directly with two groups that sit at the heart of our mission: the next generation of vaccine professionals and our member manufacturers building a resilient vaccine ecosystem.
On April 22nd, Rajinder joined by Professor Walter A. Orenstein, former Director of the United States National Immunization Program and co-author of the legendary book “Vaccines”, visited Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University where Prof. Orenstein delivered his lecture “Vaccines Don’t Save Lives. Vaccinations Save Lives,” Rajinder followed with a lecture titled “Building and Augmenting Vaccine Manufacturing and Regulatory Capacity in LMICs” introducing DCVMN’s high quality work to the next generation of vaccine professionals and bringing to life the realities, challenges, and achievements of developing country vaccine manufacturers. The visit continued at the new vision headquarters of DCVMN member SK bioscience, where Rajinder shared the DCVMN perspectives with the CEO, COO and the leadership team and on April 23rd, the series concluded with Mr. Suri’s lecture at Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University.
Across all three engagements, the message was consistent that DCVMN represents the accumulated operational intelligence of vaccine manufacturing in the developing world: what works, what fails, and what it truly takes to succeed. As an active catalyst of the ecosystem, DCVMN’s role is to foster collaboration, strengthen regulatory systems, advocate for policies that support local production, and work alongside international partners to advance the immunization agenda. A particular focus was placed on Africa for what is needed, what is possible, and the collective ambition to support the continent in building vaccine self-sufficiency.
These visits matter a lot because influence in the global vaccine field is built not only in boardrooms and international fora, but also in lecture halls inspiring the future vaccine workforce and on factory floors engaging directly with manufacturers. We are grateful to Yonsei University, Seoul National University, and SK Bioscience for their heart-warming welcome, and to Prof. Walter Orenstein for inspiring us all in Seoul with his lifelong experience of leading immunisation policy.
