Frank joined the NIBSC in 2008, he is a Deputy Group Leader of the Physico-chemical Analysis group in the Division of Bacteriology. Frank is responsible for quality control testing of Hib, Meningococcal and typhoid polysaccharide and conjugate vaccines, and has responsibility in leading and overseeing WHO polysaccharide International Standards development. His research is focused in the area of carbohydrate analysis, structural analysis of polysaccharide-protein conjugates and their stability.
Publications
Kay Lockyer, Fang Gao, Robert J. Frances, David Eastwood, Bhagwati Khatri, Richard Stebbings, Jeremy P. Derrick and Barbara Bolgiano. Higher mass meningococcal group C-tetanus toxoid vaccines conjugated with carbodiimide correlate with greater immunogenicity. Vaccine 2020: 38 2859-2869.
Krisztine Hitri, Michelle M. Kuttel, Gianluigi De Benedetto, Kay Lockyer, Fang Gao, Peter Hansal, Timothy R. Rudd, Emma Beamish, Sjoerd Rijpkema, Neil Ravenscroft and Barbara Bolgiano. O-acetylation of typhoid capsular polysaccharide confers polysaccharide rigidity and immunodominance by masking additional epitopes. Vaccine 2019: 37 3866-3875.
Fang Gao, Carolyn Swann, Peter Rigsby, Sjoerd Rijpkema, Kay Lockyer, Alastair Logan, Barbara Bolgiano and the Vi IS Working Group. Evaluation of candidate International Standards for Vi polysaccharide from Citrobacter freundii and Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhi. Biologicals 2019:57 34-45.
Caroline Vipond1, Carolyn Swann, Thomas Dougall, Peter Rigsby, Fang Gao, Nicola Beresford, Barbara Bolgiano and the MenA/MenX IS Working Group. Evaluation of candidate International Standards for Meningococcal Serogroups A and X polysaccharide. Biologicals 2017: 47 33-45.
Kay Lockyer, Fang Gao, Jeremy P. Derrick, Barbara Bolgiano. Structural correlates of carrier protein recognition in tetanus toxoid-conjugated bacterial polysaccharide vaccines. Vaccine 2015: 33 1345-1352.
Fang Gao, Kay Lockyer, Karena Burkin, Dennis Crane, Barbara Bolgiano. Physico-chemical assessment of thermal stability of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. Human Vaccines. 2014. 10:9 1-10.
Ouli Xie, Barbara Bolgiano, Fang Gao, Kay Lockyer, Carolyn Swann, Christopher Jones, Isabelle Delrieu, Berthe-Marie Njanpop-Lafourcade, Tsidi Agbeko Tamekloe, Andrew J. Pollard, Gunnstein Norheim. Characterization of size, structure and purity of serogroup X Neisseria meningitidis polysaccharide, and development of an assay for quantification of human antibodies. Vaccine. 2012:30 5812-5823