A phase one study of 11 patients with glioblastoma who received injections of an investigational vaccine therapy and an approved chemotherapy showed the combination to be well tolerated while also resulting in unexpectedly significant survival increases, researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute report.
Professor Michael Farzan, co-chair of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has received $4.8 million in funding through a 2017 Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS research from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The new funding will support a five-year project, led by Farzan, to bring a potential HIV vaccine closer to human clinical trials.
The University of Chicago Medicine's Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation (Ci3) in Sexual and Reproductive Health has launched a research initiative aimed at reducing HIV infection and transmission among vulnerable youth of color, including young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and young transgender women.
Using computational tools inspired by financial math models developed to predict changes in stock prices, University of Iowa researchers were able to accurately predict how different properties of the HIV surface protein (Env) evolved in the population of Iowa over the course of 30 years. The ability to predict such changes by testing a small number of patients could potentially allow tailoring of vaccines to the specific forms of HIV present in different populations worldwide.
Infection with reovirus, a common but otherwise harmless virus, can trigger the immune system response to gluten that leads to celiac disease, according to new research from the University of Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
In 2015, more than 20,000 cases of whooping cough were identified in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that there are 16 million pertussis cases worldwide.
Susan Wootton, M.D., associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), will lead a project to increase low vaccination rates among pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD).
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a method to analyze the glycan shield on HIV’s protective outer glycoprotein, developed as a potential HIV vaccine candidate.
While an HPV vaccine became available over 10 years ago, a study led by the Yale School of Public Health finds that there is “substantial” room for improvement in the way it is recommended and discussed.
Currently, only 44 percent of adults in the United States receive an annual flu vaccination. Though the rate has increased in recent years, the change has been slow and marginal. But, a new study suggests that a simple behavioral economics technique known as “active choice” may be able to help. In the study, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania programmed electronic health records (EHR) to alert care providers when a patient was eligible, and prompt them to choose to “accept” or “decline” a flu vaccination order. Results showed a six percent increase over clinics that did not use the alert system, representing a 37 percent relative increase in vaccinations from the prior year. The study is published online this month in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria like Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus and pathogens like malaria are emerging throughout the world. Dotiwala’s research centers on the mechanisms of killer immune cells—such as natural killer and CD8 T cells—and how they target and destroy pathogens in host cells. This research could result in promising therapeutic strategies against infections that were once thought to be drug-resistant.
Through experimental and computational tests, new research expands on the theory of virus surface hydrophobicity. By being slightly water-repellant, the outer layers of proteins in virus capsids affect how it interacts with cells and the environment. Understanding this more can improve vaccine production and virus detection.
UVA researchers have again shown that a part of the body thought to be disconnected from the immune system actually interacts with it, and that discovery helps explain cases of male infertility, certain autoimmune diseases and even the failure of cancer vaccines.
Building on earlier work in designing chimeric human-simian immunodeficiency viruses (SHIVs) that serve as a model of HIV infection of humans, George M. Shaw, MD, PhD, a professor of Hematology/Oncology and Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has received $16.3 million over five years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop a long-sought-after HIV vaccine.
Building on their previous research focusing on vaccination within a tumor (intratumoral) for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, investigators from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have shown that in a mouse model of early stage resected pancreatic cancer, intratumoral vaccination induces an anti-tumor response that results in a significant improvement in overall survival.
A Duke Health-led research team has described both the pathway of HIV protective antibody development and a synthetic HIV outer envelope mimic that has the potential to induce the antibodies with vaccination.
The Wistar Institute announces the appointment of Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Ph.D., as assistant professor in Wistar’s Vaccine Center.
An experimental malaria vaccine protected healthy subjects from infection with a malaria strain different from that contained in the vaccine, according to a study published today. The Phase 1 clinical trial is important because in places where malaria is common, there is usually more than one strain of malaria.
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded $1.5 million to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health for a project designed to increase human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine rates among minority youth in medically underserved areas across Houston.
Researchers at the George Washington University have developed a way to test recombinant vaccines for their ability to stay effective after years of storage. Their research was published this week in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Fewer than half of American adults get vaccinated despite strong recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and widespread availability of free and low-cost vaccines. Furthermore, African Americans are less likely to get the flu shot than white Americans, and concerns about side effects from the vaccine play a large role in this disparity. According to the CDC, only 41 percent of African American adults received the flu vaccine compared with 47 percent of white adults.
Using antibodies to treat disease has been one of the great success stories of early 21st-century medicine. Already five of the ten top-selling pharmaceuticals in the United States are antibody products. But antibodies are large, complex proteins that can be expensive to manufacture. Now, a team led by scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrates in an animal model a new way to deliver safer and more cost-effective therapeutic antibodies.
While not as commonly known as toxins such as anthrax or smallpox, the Centers for Disease Control puts Francisella tularensis in the same category as these bioterrorism agents. Dr. Meenakshi Malik has dedicated much of her life to studying this potentially deadly bacterium, and she has begun to make progress towards developing a preventive vaccine. The National Institutes of Health is so encouraged by her work that they recently awarded her a second grant so that she may expand her research in this area.
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have identified a new regulator of the innate immune response—the immediate, natural immune response to foreign invaders. The study, published recently in Nature Microbiology, suggests that therapeutics that modulate the regulator—an immune checkpoint—may represent the next generation of antiviral drugs, vaccine adjuvants, cancer immunotherapies, and treatments for autoimmune disease.
Scientists at The Wistar Institute and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. have devised a novel DNA vaccine approach through molecular design to improve the immune responses elicited against one of the most important cancer antigen targets.
Trusted, Evidence-based Resource Helps Practitioners Make Informed Drug Therapy Decisions
A team has found a way to identify the small population of circulating helper T cells present in the blood after an annual flu vaccine to monitor their contribution to antibody strength. A technique that identifies these helper immune cells could inform future vaccine design, especially for vulnerable populations.
In an effort to one day eliminate the need for an annual flu shot, a group of researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are exploring the surface of influenza viruses, which are covered by a protein called “hemagglutinin” (HA). This particular protein is used like a key by viruses to open cells and infect them, making it an ideal target for efforts to help the body's immune system fight off a wide range of influenza strains.
For hundreds of millions of years, ticks have survived on Earth by sucking blood from their victims for days, often leaving behind terrible diseases as a thank-you note. But no one has ever looked at why ticks, themselves, are able to survive while harboring bacteria, viruses and parasites. Now, for the first time, scientists have decoded how the ingenious tick immune system fights a myriad of microbes.
Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher Ludmil Alexandrov has been announced as a member of one of the first four global research teams funded under Cancer Research UK’s “Grand Challenge,” which seeks to revolutionize the understanding of cancer and its prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The Texas Tech researcher has shown how vaccines can be administered more effectively through the use of creative methods of drug delivery.
A major grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been made for a research programme to develop novel test protocols to accelerate development and bring to market, the next generation of vector control products.
Humans face hundreds of decisions every day. But we’re not alone. Even the tiniest viruses also make decisions, and scientists are researching how they do so, to help lead to better treatments for some diseases. A team at Texas A&M AgriLife Research discovered how the lambda phage decides what actions to take in its host, the E. coli bacterium.
Dr. Dennis Woo of UCLA Health explains the health concerns around this highly-contagious disease -- and what we should do about it.
In a season of a serious flu, UCLA's Dr. Dennis Woo explains why it's not too late to get the vaccine.
A new Zika vaccine candidate has the potential to protect against the virus with a single dose, according to a research team led by scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. As reported in Nature this week, preclinical tests showed promising immune responses in both mice and monkeys.
Saint Louis University scientists aim to advance our understanding of how the hepatitis B virus replicates in order to develop a new drug that could cure the viral infection.
Malaria is still a global scourge, killing mostly children in tropical regions. Developing an affordable vaccine that can stay stable without refrigeration is a challenge. Now, a Weizmann Institute lab has reprogrammed proteins in such a way that they could lead to an inexpensive vaccine that can be stored at room temperature.
Researchers led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have identified a mechanism by which the chikungunya virus infects healthy cells and controls how severe the disease it causes will be, a mechanism they believe can be found in a number of other related viruses for which there are no treatments or licensed vaccines.
Scientists at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry have developed, for the first time, two new vaccines for canine influenza.
NDSU forms collaborative relationships with local organizations to serve the state’s citizens. The NDSU Center for Immunization Research and Education works closely with health care providers to improve the state’s immunization rates.
Approximately 500 million people around the world are infected with the genital herpes virus known as herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2). A vaccine that could bring an end to this global pandemic is needed desperately, yet no candidate vaccine has ever performed well in clinical trials. Now scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have shown that a new type of vaccine provides powerful protection in standard guinea pig and monkey models of HSV2 infection.
Statement supports shorter dosing schedule, urges action to increase national vaccination rates
Recognizing a critical need to improve national vaccination rates for the human papillomavirus (HPV), UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has again united with each of the 69 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers in issuing a joint statement in support of recently revised recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
How big you are may be as important as what you look like, at least to immune system cells watching for dangerous bacteria and viruses.
The Georgia State University Research Foundation has entered into a research collaboration agreement with GeoVax Labs, Inc., a Georgia-based biotechnology company developing human vaccines, to advance development of a therapeutic vaccine for treatment of chronic Hepatitis B infections.
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