Together with our Communications & Events team, the Grant Management Team organized the 4th General Assembly (GA) meeting on September 29-30 in Groningen, the Netherlands. The meeting took place face-to-face, after two years of online meetings. It was very good to see each other again and to interact and share progress and ideas (see pictures).
All work packages (1 through 5) presented the progress, science and results, followed by discussions. The presentation format (Highlights & future plans, Scientific Presentation and discussion) allowed the WPs to really show the compelling work that has been done, and the amazing teamwork behind it.
Although we had a fruitful face-to-face meeting, the COVID pandemic did cause delays in the scientific work packages in the past years and therefore it was decided to request a project extension of 1 year to be able to finish the work that we started without making concessions in quality of the pending deliverables.
The 2022 General Assembly has once again reinforced the capability and potential of VITAL as a public-private partnership in the future of vaccine development for the elderly. Even though there is still a lot to be done, the progress that has been made proves that VITAL is well on its way to the realization of its vision.
