Vanderbilt Vaccine Center Archives

Designing antibodies to fight the flu

Jan. 31, 2019—Vanderbilt investigators said their work shows that computational design can improve the ability of naturally occurring antibodies to recognize different flu strains and may hasten the development of more effective flu therapies and vaccines.

Research assistant Mahsa Majedi loads reagent used in DNA sample preparation in the genomics lab. She is part of a team of more than a dozen people at VUMC who are “sprinting” to develop — within 90 days — an antibody-based treatment to stop the spread of the Zika virus.

VUMC scientists ‘sprint’ to find anti-Zika antibodies

Jan. 24, 2019—Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues in Boston, Seattle and St. Louis are racing to develop — in a mere 90 days — a protective antibody-based treatment that can stop the spread of the Zika virus.

Discovery could lead to neutralizing West Nile virus

Dec. 6, 2018—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and colleagues have isolated a human monoclonal antibody that can “neutralize” the West Nile virus and potentially prevent a leading cause of viral encephalitis (brain inflammation) in the United States.

Symposium to focus on prospects for a universal flu vaccine

Oct. 11, 2018—Internationally known vaccine experts including Vanderbilt University’s James Crowe Jr., MD, will speak next month at a symposium in Nashville on prospects for a universal flu vaccine.

Team finds potent antibodies against three Ebola viruses

Jul. 19, 2018—Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and their colleagues are a step closer to developing a broadly effective antibody treatment against the three major Ebola viruses that cause lethal disease in humans.

A “public” target for HIV

Jun. 8, 2018—Common sequences of antibodies against HIV may be key to developing a successful vaccine strategy for the virus.

New target to stop Ebola

May. 21, 2018—A new Vanderbilt study suggests it may be possible to develop antibody therapies or a universal vaccine effective against multiple Ebola virus family members.

Alphavirus “Achilles heel”

May. 17, 2018—Targeting the protein that mosquito-borne viruses use to enter cells could be a strategy for preventing infection by multiple emerging viruses.

Study seeking to isolate antibodies against rabies virus

Apr. 26, 2018—Few people die from rabid animal bites in the United States thanks to the near-universal availability of human rabies immune globulin and rabies vaccine, which are given as separate shots as soon as possible after exposure to the rabies virus.