Showing Grants 1 to 10 of 20 |
| A Novel Vaccination Strategy for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis |
| | Shaden Kamhawi, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States - US |
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Because Leishmania is transmitted to humans when sand flies feed on humans, Shaden Kamhawi of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. proposes to develop a novel vaccine against salivary proteins of sand flies with the aim to induce a strong immune response against the parasite. |
| Adjuvant Effects of a Special Light |
| | Mei Wu, General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States - US |
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Laser light at a specific setting can activate antigen presenting cells in the skin and temporarily make cellular membranes permeable. Mei X. Wu and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the U.S. will test whether injection of a vaccine into laser-exposed skin can significantly enhance immune responses stimulated by the vaccine. |
| An Altruistic Vaccine for Mosquito Transmitted Pathogens |
| | Paul Young, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - AU |
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Mosquito transmitted pathogens such as dengue and malaria are a significant disease burden on the world’s population. Paul Young of the University of Queensland in Australia aims to develop a novel vaccine approach that is based on blocking mosquito transmission of these disease agents rather than inducing pathogen-specific immunity. |
| Capturing Nature’s Weapons to Prevent Infectious Diseases |
| | Gregory Tew, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States - US |
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To better understand the role that antimicrobial peptides play in the immune system, Gregory Tew of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the U.S. will test synthetic molecules that mimic these peptides for their ability to clear bacteria by engaging the innate and adaptive immune system. |
| Customized Insecticides for Combating Disease Vectors |
| | John Abrams, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States - US |
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John Abrams of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the U.S. will utilize novel mutagenesis and selection strategies to develop new variants of the Cry protein, a toxin producing the pathogen Bt, in an effort to create customized insecticides that can selectively target disease vectors without harming humans and non-target species. |
| Generation of Influenza-Resistant Chicken by Triple Combination Lentiviral Vector-mediated Genetic Modification |
| | Chen Yangchao, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China - CN |
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Chen Yangchao of the Chinese University of Hong Kong proposes developing a lentiviral vector that targets the entry and replication of influenza viruses in domestic chickens. The team plans to test the ability of these modified chickens to be resistant to various influenza viruses in an effort to reduce the frequency of flu epidemics in poultry and, ultimately, in humans. |
| Human Polyomavirus BKV as a HIV Vaccine Vector |
| | Simon Lacey, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, CA, United States - US |
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BK virus is a very common and non-pathogenic virus that persists in specific organs for long periods of time. Simon Lacey of Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope in the U.S. proposes using an engineered BK virus as a vaccine vector to introduce HIV polyepitope sequences in hopes of inducing a strong and long-lasting immune response against HIV. |
| Increasing Vaccination Efficacy with ACE Inhibitors |
| | Julio Scharfstein, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - BR |
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Julio Scharfstein of Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will study whether a pre-dose of captopril, an established ACE inhibitor and anti-hypertension drug, can also increase the potency of vaccines by increasing activation of dendritic cells. |
| Inhibition of Octopamine Biosynthesis in Invertebrates |
| | Mark Alkema, University of Massachusetts, Worchester, MA, United States - US |
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The neurotransmitter octopamine is unique to the invertebrate nervous system and plays a crucial role in invertebrate behavior and fertility. Mark Alkema of the University of Massachusetts in the U.S. will attempt to design drugs to disrupt the biosynthesis of octopamine as a new strategy to interfere with the lifecycle of invertebrate parasites. |
| Large-Scale MHC Epitope Analysis for Vaccine Development |
| | Gustavo Fioravanti Vieira, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil - BR |
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Gustavo Fioravanti Vieira of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil will create 3-D computer models of viral epitopes anchored to different alleles of MHC molecules to search for “generalist” epitopes that can be used to develop viral vaccines that are effective against a broad spectrum of pathogens. |