First International Precision Vaccines Conference: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Next-Generation Vaccines.

mSphere
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Vaccines represent a remarkable success in the history of medicine since they have prevented and, in some instances, eradicated a range of infectious diseases. However, for many existing vaccines, immunogenicity is limited, requiring multiple booster doses, and we are still unable to target many pathogens due to intrinsic features of the microorganism, such as genetic/antigenic variability between strains, and our limited understanding of the variables that regulate vaccine responsiveness, including age- and sex-specific differences. Moreover, the traditional approach to vaccine development is often empirical, relying on inactivation of microorganisms or purification of their components, which are usually less immunogenic than the whole microorganism from which they derive. This approach has yielded multiple important vaccines but has failed to consistently generate vaccines that are sufficiently immunogenic in populations with limited immune responsiveness such as newborns and elderly individuals. In an effort to trigger impactful collaborations, a community of scientists gathered in Boston in the United States for the first biennial International Precision Vaccines Conference, sponsored by the Boston Children's Hospital Precision Vaccines Program, to discuss innovation in vaccinology. Recent advancements in the field of systems biology that can identify vaccine immunogenicity biomarkers for target populations, in human models, and in novel adjuvant and formulation strategies offer unprecedented opportunities to dissect the human immune response to vaccines and inform dramatic improvements in vaccine efficacy. These approaches are poised to have a major scientific and translational impact in vaccinology.

Year of Publication
2018
Journal
mSphere
Volume
3
Issue
4
Date Published
2018 08 01
ISSN
2379-5042
DOI
10.1128/mSphere.00214-18
PubMed ID
30068557
PubMed Central ID
PMC6070736
Links
Grant list
R01 AI100135 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
R01 AI067353 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
U01 AI124284 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
HHSN272201400052C / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States
U19 AI118608 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States