NIH launched a new nationwide research initiative “to define changes in the human immune system, using human and not animal studies, in response to infection or to vaccination.” Six U. S.-based Human Immune Phenotyping Centers will receive a total of US$100 million over five years to conduct this research. NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. commented, “Recognizing the differences in immune system activity before, during and after exposure to an infectious agent or vaccine will help in the development of safer, more effective therapeutics and vaccines. This research effort also will contribute to the ongoing evolution in our ability to study the immune system.”
Investigators will analyze samples from well-characterized groups, including children, the elderly and people with autoimmune diseases such as lupus. These groups represent diverse populations with respect to age, genetics, gender and ethnicity. The research teams will examine immune system elements of these populations before and after exposure to naturally acquired infections or to vaccines or vaccine components. The profile that will emerge of the body’s response to vaccination will be based on the most sophisticated and comprehensive assays currently available. This will enable new approaches to examining vaccine safety, not just of individual vaccines but of the processes of immunization in general.
The following six core institutions and principal investigators will participate in the inaugural program:
Baylor Research Institute, Dallas – Jacques Banchereau, Ph.D.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston – Ellis Reinherz, M.D.
Emory University, Atlanta – Bali Pulendran, Ph.D.
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. – Gregory Poland, M.D.
Stanford University, Calif. – Mark Davis, Ph.D.
Yale University, New Haven, Conn. – David Hafler, M.D., and Erol Fikrig, M.D.
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