World experts sign on to advise GRA initiative

Four international visionaries in key scientific areas have been named to the Global Thought Leaders Think Tank of the GRA Next-Generation Vaccines and Therapeutics Initiative. They will advise GRA about trends in science and technology and the strategic direction of the initiative. Joining the Think Tank are:

• Raphael “Ray” Dolin, M.D., Dean for Academic and Clinical Programs, Harvard Medical School and Chair, Board of Scientific Counselors, NIH Vaccine Research Center. Dr. Dolin and his team were the first to describe the Norwalk, Hawaii and Snow Mountain viruses.

   

• Stanley Plotkin, M.D., Executive Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer, Sanofi Pasteur. Dr. Plotkin has developed a number of vaccines, including the rubella vaccine now exclusively used in the United States and throughout the world.

   

• Rino Rappuoli, Ph.D., Global Head of Vaccines Research, Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics. Dr. Rappuoli co-founded the field of cellular microbiology and pioneered the genomic approach to vaccine development known as reverse vaccinology.

   

• Thomas E. Shenk, Ph.D., Elkin Professor, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University and member of the board of Merck and Cell Genesys. Dr. Shenk pioneered technology to manipulate genes in several viruses.

The inaugural meeting of the group will be February 29 in Atlanta. back to top

Top scientific talent chooses Georgia

Internationally acclaimed physician and researcher Max Cooper, M.D., who is regarded as one of the most influential scientists in the field of immunology, has joined the cadre of GRA Eminent Scholars at Emory University. In his distinguished career, primarily at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Dr. Cooper has been a leader in research on the cellular, molecular and developmental biology of white blood cells. He is credited with a string of landmark discoveries that now provide a framework for understanding how these cells fight infections and how they go awry to produce leukemia, lymphomas and autoimmune diseases. Commenting on Dr. Cooper’s recruitment, GRA President and CEO Mike Cassidy said, “Georgia’s reputation and capability as a leader in immunology and next-generation vaccine development are immeasurably strengthened by the vision and leadership of Dr. Cooper.”

The Medical College of Georgia has recruited Yukai He, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh as the first GRA Next-Generation Vaccines Distinguished Investigator. His work focuses on novel vaccine vector technology to deliver modified antigens. He is using the lentivirus, modified to remove most of it genes, as the transportation system. The technology has promise for developing cancer vaccines as well as for therapeutic immunization of global infectious diseases and new techniques for immunosuppressive gene transfer. The Distinguished Investigator program is designed to bring the “rising stars” in research to GRA’s partner universities. back to top

GeoVax Labs wins $15 million NIH grant

GeoVax Labs, Inc. has announced its selection for a $15 million Integrated Preclinical/Clinical AIDS Vaccine Development (IPCAVD) Grant from the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. IPCAVD grants are awarded on a competitive basis and are designed to support later stage vaccine research, development and human trials. GeoVax will use the funding to further its HIV/AIDS vaccines development, optimization, production and human clinical trial testing, including Phase 2 human clinical trials planned for this year. back to top

	Mark Prausnitz (left) of Georgia Tech and Richard Compans of Emory are working on a new way to deliver the flu vaccine using microneedles. Their work is supported by $11.5 million in NIH grants awarded this year.

Jettisoning the hypodermic needle

Georgia Tech’s Mark Prausnitz and Emory’s Richard Compans have teamed up to garner $11.5 million in NIH grants to develop a transdermal patch for administering flu vaccines. The patch, which is covered with an array of microscopic needles, would be cheaper and quicker to produce, easier to store, and less painful than hypodermic needles for administering vaccines. Use of the patch could also make vaccines more widely available in developing countries and could reduce the reuse of hypodermic needles, which can cause infection. back to top

NIH taps Emory to test, evaluate new vaccines

Emory University and its physician-scientists will play a leading national role in evaluating promising new vaccines and therapies for infectious diseases in adults and children as one of the newest members of a group of Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEUs). The VTEUs are funded by the NIH-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Along with designation as part of the eight-member VTEU group, Emory has been awarded a seven-year contract of approximately $23.7 million. The award has subcontracts to collaborators at Kaiser Permanente Georgia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Mayo Clinic and the University of Colorado.

The VTEUs were established in 1962 as a vital research component of the NIAID. The units conduct clinical trials for all infectious diseases other than HIV/AIDS, including bacterial, viral and parasitic vaccines, therapeutics and other biologics and drugs for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in people of all ages and risk categories. back to top

Taking the bite out of rabies

University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine scientists have earned a $1.18 million extension of their NIH-NIAID grant to develop rabies virus vaccines. Zhen Fu is the principal investigator of the study; he will work with GRA Eminent Scholar Ralph Tripp. The researchers are seeking a less expensive and less invasive means of vaccinating humans and animals. The proposed vaccine will use a genetically modified form of the live virus – one that will be potent enough to establish immunity with fewer doses, yet very safe because the genetic modification makes the virus unable to cause the disease. back to top

Vaccine Dinner Club Main Course

February 6
Max Cooper, M.D., GRA Eminent Scholar
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
“Gone Fishin’: Hagfish, Sea Lamprey, and the Search for Adaptive Immunity”

March 5
Julie Jacobson, M.D., D.T.M.H.
Senior Program Officer, Infectious Disease Development
Global Health Program
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
“Japanese Encephalitis Vaccination”

For more information, see the VDC Web site. back to top

Pathways offers periodic reports on the Georgia Research Alliance’s Next-Generation Vaccines and Therapeutics Initiative. GRA creates opportunities to grow Georgia’s economy through scientific discovery. We help recruit enterprising scholars to Georgia’s research universities ... fuel the launch of companies that create high-value jobs ... and broker partnerships between businesses and universities.

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