The study of a vaccine to prevent infections from the H1N1 influenza virus drew intense meda interest. Here, Marcus McDonald of KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock, Ark., right, films study participant Russell Phillips, center, as he talks with Buddy Creech, M.D., before receiving the vaccine. (photo by Susan Urmy)
At Vanderbilt Medical Center earlier this week, the first volunteers began receiving an experimental vaccine designed to prevent infections from the 2009 H1N1 inflenza virus.
Vanderbilt's Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) is one of a nationwide network of vaccine units funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Vanderbilt's own William Schaffner, M.D., is taking part in the study of a vaccine to prevent the H1N1 influenza virus. (photo by Susan Urmy)
The VTEUs are conducting these trials that are recruiting volunteers and testing the vaccine this month. Vanderbilt's VTEU is one of just eight in the country, and is one of only two in the Southeast.
The clinical trials will enroll as many as 1,000 adults and children at 10 centers nationwide to evaluate the safety of the vaccine and measure its ability to stimulate immune responses to the H1N1 virus. The research is a first step toward the government's stated goal of developing a safe and effective vaccine against H1N1 and making it available to the public before the flu season begins in the fall.
Kathryn Edwards, M.D., professor of Pediatrics, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program and principal investigator for the Vanderbilt VTEU, is leading the Vanderbilt portion of the trials.