VaccinesPrinciples, recent developments and future directions

Vaccines are among the greatest success stories in the history of public health, with the eradication of smallpox, near eradication of polio, and significant prevention of morbidity and mortality of several infectious diseases. Surprisingly, while there are a plethora of courses on microbiology and immunology, there are very few courses... read moreavailable on vaccines. Thus, we decided to develop a course on vaccines that would provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the field.

The first section of the course focuses on an introduction to vaccines and consists of lectures on: History of vaccination; Vaccine Immunology; Vaccine Adjuvants; Preclinical Development; Manufacturing; Clinical Development, Regulatory Considerations; Licensed Viral Vaccines; Licensed Bacterial Vaccines; and Recommended Immunization Practices.

The second section of the course focuses on vaccines in development, including HIV, TB, Malaria, Parasitic Diseases, Dengue, RSV, Herpes, Bacterial Diseases, Biodefense and Special Pathogens, and Cancer.

The final section of the course focuses on future directions for vaccine development including lectures on: Nucleic acid based vaccines; Replication competent viral vectors; Reverse vaccinology; Structural vaccinology; Systems vaccinology, Vector mediated immunoprophylaxis; Future directions for vaccine discovery.

Each lecture will be given by an internationally recognized expert in the field, and will provide students with the current status and future directions for the respective area. A new generation of vaccinologists will be needed to discover, develop and test vaccines for new and emerging diseases of the 21st century, and we hope this course stimulates the best and the brightest to enter this field, which will continue to be transformative for public health.