The Collaborative

Global travel patterns and access to antibiotics are dramatically changing the epidemiology of infectious diseases on the eve of the 21st century. Recent developments in molecular biology and bioinformatics have dramatically increased access to information about pathogens, more than 100 pathogenís genomes will have been sequenced by the year 2000. Yet, on the regional and national level, academic structures for supporting vaccine development are lacking. The development of  a vaccine collaborative of excellence at Brown University will benefit the New England region by providing accessible information and education on vaccines as a means of preventing disease to the public, by providing support to young researchers who wish to enter the field of vaccinology, and by establishing an infrastructure for the support and encouragement of vaccine research and development. 
 
 

Why now?

The pace of vaccine discovery has accelerated in recent years, due to innovations in molecular techniques and in the application of informatics to the vaccine discovery process. The need for new advances in the field of vaccinology is also accelerating due to the introduction of new diseases into human communities and the re-emergence of old diseases in regions of the world where public health infrastructures have become overburdened or have deteriorated due to political upheaval. 

To develop an effective vaccine from bench to implementation in humans requires an understanding of human vulnerability to disease; comprehension of socio-political determinants of vaccine delivery; a knowledge base in infectious disease, immunology and pathogenesis, molecular biology and biochemistry; and a firm grasp of vaccine trial design. Since vaccinologists can hardly afford to master each of these disciplines, cross-disciplinary education and collaborative research efforts are the keys to vaccine development success. 
 
 
 

Why the International Health Institute (IHI)?

The most critical public health need for vaccines is in the developing world. Laboratory, clinical and community research on the development, delivery and evaluation of vaccines for  malaria, HIV, TB, worm infections, and other infectious diseases is urgently needed. Creating the Vaccine Collaborative under the umbrella of the International Health Institute (IHI) will allow the Collaborative to flourish in an atmosphere where community health, international health, infectious disease, and vaccine development already intermingle. 

The IHIís mission is to integrate public health and social policy, with a special emphasis on infectious pathogens that affect the health of communities in the developing world. The TB/HIV Research Laboratory at the IHI focuses on TB and AIDS vaccine development, and has also established websites providing access to specialized tools for vaccine researchers. Dr. De Groot and Dr. Knopf of the IHI teach the Vaccines course at Brown. Dr. Steve McGarvey, the Associate Director of the IHI, leads the International Health Course for undergraduate students at Brown. Additional members of the IHI are involved in all aspects of vaccine development from community health, social policy, legal aspects, to basic bench research. The International Health Institute also hosts a program for training researchers from developing countries in AIDS epidemiology and basic science (the Fogarty AIDS Research and Training Program). 
 
 
 

Why Brown?

A community of vaccinologists and individuals who have a depth of knowledge in a field related to vaccine development already exists at Brown. These individuals present their work informally in the context of the Bio 160 Vaccines for Infectious Diseases course, and more formally in the context of the Infectious Disease Conference (held weekly at the BioMed Center) and the Immunology Seminar Series (also weekly during the academic year). Brown has two websites devoted to vaccines, the TB/HIV Research Laboratory website, established in 1994, and the Bio 160 Vaccines course website, established in 1995 and updated by the students as part of their course requirements, every course year).