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Infectious Diseases Research Clinic

URMC / Infectious Diseases Research Clinic / UR Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) / About Us

 

About Us

Angela Branche, MD and Anne Falsey, MD, Co-Directors of the URMC Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation UnitIn 1962, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) established the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC), a clinical trials network that encompasses the Institute’s long-standing Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs).

There are 10 VTEUs located in institutions across the United States, including the University of Rochester.  They conduct Phase 1 through 4 vaccine and treatment trials, including clinical studies in collaboration with industry partners. Depending on the disease or condition, the VTEUs may establish international study sites. Additionally, sites will have the capacity to conduct human challenge trials—where healthy volunteers are exposed to infection under tightly controlled conditions—of influenza, malaria and other diseases.

The purpose of the University of Rochester Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (UR VTEU) will be to implement clinical studies as part of as part of NIAID IDCRC. We will provide capacity to implement protocols evaluating vaccines, preventative biologics, therapeutics, diagnostics, predictive markers and devices for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. 

  • Our group collaborates with NIAID and the VTEU leadership group (VTEU LG) to address and prioritize initiatives for infectious diseases such as respiratory, enteric, sexually transmitted infections, antibiotic resistant organisms and emerging threats such as SARS-CoV-2. 
  • We work with VTEU leadership to develop concepts and projects that address important infectious disease priorities and formulate best practices and efficiencies among VTEU sites. 
  • We provide surge capacity in terms of personnel and clinical research sites (CRS) to rapidly respond to urgent NIAID demands.
  • Our research laboratory expertise and capabilities provide the VTEU network with a variety of state-of-the-art technologies to interrogate the host response in novel ways and investigator mechanisms of disease thereby enhancing the breadth of research capabilities for the current VTEU community.
  • We collaborate with VTEU leadership to provide research opportunities and education for junior faculty to train the next generation of physician scientists.