Vaccine technology gets shot in arm

Scientists from around the country gathered in Rochester last month to review promising new vaccine technologies and to discuss the status of vaccine efforts against HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, ulcers and other maladies.

The conference was organized by the University, where vaccine technology is at the centerpiece of a new research institute ­ and whose scientists created the vaccine that has nearly wiped out one form of childhood meningitis this decade.

More than 150 physicians, public health officials and research scientists discussed everything from recent discoveries in biotechnology to efforts to ensure that as many people as possible receive the ever-growing battery of available vaccines.

"It's a great time in vaccine research and development," said John Treanor, head of the University's Vaccine Evaluation Unit. "There have been a tremendous number of advances in molecular biology and in our understanding of the human immune response."

Added Barbara Iglewski, professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and an organizer of the conference: "The spotlight in biotechnology really is shining on vaccines, making this an opportune time for a vigorous research effort, such as the new Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology."

Rochester residents are among the first to benefit from the new boom in vaccine research because the University is one of five sites designated by the National Institutes of Health to evaluate new vaccines.

Among the current vaccine-related research at the University:

• Researchers are creating and testing a vaccine against human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease and the cause of nearly all cases of cervical cancer. Physicians recently showed that the vaccine is safe and provokes an immune response; more testing is under way.
• The University is one of six NIH sites nationwide to test vaccines against HIV. More than 500 people in the Rochester area have taken part in about 30 studies ­ more research participants per capita than anywhere else in the world. The unit is currently evaluating seven vaccines.
• University physicians and their patients took part in the studies that led to last month's approval by the FDA of a vaccine against rotavirus, the leading cause of childhood diarrhea.
• Physicians here are among the nationwide leaders in the testing of a new flu vaccine, given by nasal spray, that could make the flu shot a distant memory.
• University physician Michael Pichichero has led an effort to test in adults a version of the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine commonly given to children. Adults in nursing homes around Rochester are taking part in the study.

Rochester has become a national model not only in such research but also in ensuring that as many people as possible are immunized. Physician Peter Szilagyi created a program that has boosted the numbers of children in inner-city Rochester receiving vaccines by about 20 percent.

"You can make the best vaccines in the world, but if you can't get them to the people who need them, they're worthless," Szilagyi said.