Research strengths
Mission:Vaccine development and testing is the focus of dozens of teams of
investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Work covers
the gamut from basic research, to vaccine testing, to improving and
measuring the availability of vaccines to people who need them most.
Among the targets are well-known killers such as HIV and pneumonia;
common diseases like flu and whooping cough; and more recent threats
such as bird flu and anthrax.
Summary:
All vaccines depend on our knowledge of the basic workings of the immune
system, a subject of study in many laboratories. An ultimate goal is
the rational design of vaccines, where scientists could customize the
body's immune response in a predictable way against pathogens.
Such basic research has the potential to create new approaches not yet
imagined to prevent or treat diseases such as AIDS and cancer, and to
revolutionize the manufacture of vaccines. On the applied side, the
University's Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit has had a hand
in testing dozens of new vaccine candidates, including nearly every
new vaccine to be approved in the last three decades. Hundreds of Rochester-area
residents take part in such studies every year.
Technology Transfer and Business Development Successes:
- Rochester researchers invented conjugate vaccine technology more
than 25 years ago. The technology has been used to create vaccines
against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcus, and meningococcus;
those vaccines now save tens of thousands of children each year from
serious illness. The successful commercialization of the vaccine
in 1990, breaking a long drought in new vaccine technology at the
time, ushered in a new era of vaccine technology. The technology
also became the most lucrative in the University's history.
- Researchers developed technology that is key to vaccines against
human papillomaviruses, sexually transmitted viruses that causes
nearly all cases of cervical cancer in women, and likely other cancers
as well. Two vaccines that incorporate the technology, the creation
of viral-like particles, are currently in the final stages of testing.
- Vaccine research was also the genesis of Vaccinex, a thriving University
spin-off company created in 1997.
Leadership:
Barbara
Iglewski, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Microbiology & Immunology
Timothy
Mosmann, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
Director, Center for
Vaccine Biology and Immunology
Total Funding: $149 million in active funding for
vaccine research, including immunology and infectious disease.
NIH Funding: $119 million in active funding for vaccine
research, including immunology and infectious disease.
National Ranking:
- The Department of Microbiology & Immunology is among the top
20 departments nationally in terms of funding dollars from the National
Institutes of Health, out of more than 100 such departments.
- The University of Rochester annually ranks among the top 10 universities
nationwide in royalty income, thanks in large part to its vaccine
research.
Examples of Currently Funded Vaccine Projects
Facilities:
More than three dozen independent laboratories and investigators working
on vaccine testing and development - everything from very basic
research about the immune system to very specific technologies aimed
at a specific disease.
Resource Highlights:
- David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology: A
research center, named after a creator of conjugate vaccine technology,
devoted to understanding the basic workings of the human immune system.
- Emerging Infections Network: The University is
one of 10 sites of this national surveillance and research network,
which tracks several diseases that are preventable by vaccines.
- HIV Vaccine Trials Unit: The University is one
of 25 sites worldwide that make up the global HIV Vaccine Trials
Network, or HVTN, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases. The goal is the creation of a vaccine against
HIV.
- Human Immunology Center: A center funded by the
National Institutes of Health where researchers are developing new
technologies for measuring human immune responses. Techniques for
measuring the immune system have mushroomed since the creation of
many of today's vaccines, and the center serves as a resource
for researchers by bringing to widespread laboratory use the latest
research techniques as quickly as possible.
- New Vaccine Surveillance Network: The University
is part of this national three-site network that evaluates the impact
of new vaccines and vaccine policies.
- Racial and Ethnic Adult Disparities in Immunization Initiative: The
University is one of five national sites taking part in this initiative,
which aims to improve flu and pneumococcal vaccination rates for
African-Americans and Hispanics 65 and older.
- Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit: The University
is one of seven institutions that make up an elite network of centers
established by the Federal government to respond to national needs
in the area of infectious disease. The network assesses the safety
and effectiveness of potential vaccines.
- Xenopus laevis Research Resource
for Immunology: The University is home to the world's
most comprehensive resource specializing in the use of the amphibian Xenopus
laevis for immunological research. Several genetically defined
inbred strains and clones are available for study. The facility
also develops research tools such as transgenic animals, monoclonal
antibodies, cell lines, DNA libraries and molecular probes. The
resource is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Faculty and Scientific Projects
