Oxford Vaccine Group seeks volunteers for world-first Ebola trial

The trial, known as BD-Ebov, is testing a candidate vaccine called ChAdOx1 Ebola BDBV Vaccine, developed at the University of Oxford using the same platform technology that underpinned the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The backdrop is a serious one. In May 2026 the World Health Organisation declared a public health emergency of international concern after cases of severe fever and death linked to Bundibugyo virus were detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The virus, normally carried by fruit bats, can cross into humans through contact with infected animals and then spread between people through direct contact with body fluids.

Until now, there has been no licensed vaccine specifically targeting this strain. The Oxford trial is the first attempt to change that.

Researchers are recruiting healthy adults aged 18 to 55 who are in good health and able to attend regular face-to-face appointments in Oxford. The study runs for a year, with up to 12 visits at the Headington site. Volunteers have blood tests at each visit, are reviewed by a study clinician, and log any symptoms in an electronic diary.

The first 10 participants form Group 1 and receive an initial dose followed by a six-month booster. The following 40 participants make up Group 2 and receive either a single dose of the vaccine or a saltwater placebo. The team is looking at both the safety of the vaccine and the immune response it triggers.

Volunteers are reimbursed for their time, travel and inconvenience. Group 1 participants can receive up to £1,200 and Group 2 participants up to £790 across the year.

The Oxford Vaccine Group has been part of the University of Oxford’s Department of Paediatrics for more than 30 years. In that time it has run trials involving over 150,000 participants around the world, and its work on typhoid conjugate vaccines and the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has contributed to millions of lives saved.

The Ebola trial fits that pattern: a small group of volunteers in one Oxford building, taking part in something that could eventually matter thousands of miles away.

The team’s message to prospective volunteers is a simple one. One volunteer today, potentially millions protected tomorrow.

Further details about eligibility, the schedule of visits and what taking part involves are set out in the participant information sheet, and expressions of interest can be registered through the study’s sign-up page.

More background on the group’s history and its current portfolio of studies is available on the Oxford Vaccine Group website.

For a research centre tucked away on a quiet street in Headington, it is a reminder of how much of the world’s vaccine science still runs through Oxford.