The Emory Vaccine Center is one of the largest academic vaccine centers in the world and is renowned for its expertise in cellular immunity and immune memory. The center’s mission is to improve human health by conducting fundamental and clinical research that leads to the development of effective vaccines against infectious and chronic diseases of global significance, including HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, cytomegalovirus and malaria.

The EVC developed an HIV/AIDS vaccine, now in clinical trials, that is regarded by many to be one of the most promising of its kind in the world.

The center was established in 1996, when the Georgia Research Alliance helped recruit renowned vaccine researcher Dr. Rafi Ahmed to Georgia from UCLA.

Worth noting: The Hope Clinic, a community-based clinic in downtown Decatur, Georgia, functions as the translational and clinical arm of the center, hosting numerous large-scale clinical vaccine trials. Additionally, the center established a startup biotechnology company, GeoVax, Inc., to help bring promising EVC-developed vaccines to market.

Institutions involved: Emory University

Research focus: The center’s research extends across the continuum of vaccine research and development, from basic science to translational research to clinical trials. Specific areas of research include:

• HIV/AIDS
• Malaria
• Basic immunology and virology
• Cancer
• Bio-defense pathogens

GRA investment: The center’s staff includes four GRA Eminent Scholars: Director Rafi Ahmed, Max Cooper, Eric Hunter, and Samuel H.Speck. In addition, GRA provided $2 million to help build a facility and an additional $10 million for equipment over a 10-year period.

External funding: The center’s researchers have attracted more than $260 million since 1996, primarily from the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Web site: http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/