Vanderbilt Center for Antibody Therapeutics (VCAT)

Researchers at Vanderbilt University and the National University of Singapore have determined the structure of a human monoclonal antibody which, in an animal model, strongly neutralizes a type of the potentially lethal dengue virus.

In late 2013 the Caribbean had its first case of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. Today there have been almost 1.2 million cases in 44 countries or territories, including 177 cases in 31 U.S. States.

With the help of a computer program called “Rosetta,” researchers at Vanderbilt University have “redesigned” an antibody that has increased potency and can neutralize more strains of the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than can any known natural antibody.

Vanderbilt University researchers have received a five-year, $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to design more effective flu vaccines and novel antibody therapies.

Vanderbilt University researchers have joined a multi-center effort led by Pennsylvania-based Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. to accelerate development of potential antibody therapies against the often-lethal Ebola virus.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and The Scripps Research Institute for the first time have shown how human antibodies can neutralize the Marburg virus, a close cousin to Ebola.

During the past five years, Vanderbilt University Medical Center has become a leader in “personalized medicine,” the use of genomic information to individualize patient care.