The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) announced a US$378,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to “convene international scientists and public-health experts to explore the creation of a Human Vaccines Project that could collectively leverage technological advances to accelerate the development of new vaccines against AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other major diseases.” Wayne C. Koff, IAVI Chief Scientific Officer and Principal Investigator of the grant, commented, “New approaches are critically needed. Despite major advances in vaccine discovery and immune-system monitoring, common questions hinder development of vaccines against many diseases. Solving these trans-vaccinology questions in a global consortium could be transformative for individual and public health. IAVI is once again proud to serve as a catalyst in cutting-edge science by convening a forum to open this conversation.”
Dr. Koff and eight fellow scientists wrote in Science (May 2013) describing a Human Vaccines Project which would aim to identify and prioritize the questions to solve. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, IAVI will host three workshops to explore the viability, potential impact, and requirements of such a project. The first workshop, in February, will gather internationally recognized representatives from academia, the vaccine industry, government, and product-development partnerships and other non-government organizations to help identify needs and craft a potential scientific plan.
“There are many viral, bacterial, parasitic, and chronic diseases for which vaccines are needed,” said Stanley Plotkin, Emeritus Professor of the University of Pennsylvania and Chairman of the Human Vaccines Project Steering Committee. “This Project holds the potential to greatly accelerate the development of vaccines against major global killers, and provide a foundation for future prevention of new and emerging diseases.”
vaccines and global health :: ethics and policy 