New nationwide initiative to conduct research on human immune system

A new nationwide research initiative has been launched to define changes in the human immune system's response to infection and vaccination using human rather than animal models, which could lead to better vaccines and other treatments. Baylor Research Institute (BRI), along with five other U.S.-based Human Immune Phenotyping Centers, will receive a total of $100 million over five years to conduct the research.

Funding is provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, which has previously provided BRI funding for other projects, including HIV research, lupus research and developing a flu vaccine.

Investigators will analyze samples from well-characterized groups, such as children, the elderly, and people with autoimmune diseases - for example, lupus. These groups represent diverse populations with respect to age, genetics, gender and ethnicity. The research teams will examine immune system elements of these populations before and after exposure to naturally acquired infections or vaccines or vaccine components. The profile that will emerge of the body's response will be based on the most sophisticated and comprehensive tests available.

"Being able to track activity in the immune system and note the differences in the immune system's response before, during and after exposure to infection or vaccination will help us develop safer and more effective therapeutics and vaccines," says Michael Ramsay, M.D., president, Baylor Research Institute. "Our research also will add to the body of knowledge on the immune system, and that could lead to other exciting discoveries."

The researchers' studies will focus on immune responses to vaccines against specific viruses and bacteria such as influenza, neumococcus and West Nile virus. They will take advantage of technological developments and advances in creating databases to establish mathematical models to identify and analyze complex changes in immune profiles.

BRI's efforts, along with the other research centers, will help establish a centralized infrastructure to collect, characterize and store human samples and analyze the large data sets that will be generated. Eventually, the centers will gather the information from this effort into a centralized Web-based database they will make available to the scientific community to promote and support human immunology research.

"Because of this research, we will no longer only have to rely on animal models to define the principles of human immune regulation, which is not always effective," says Dr. Ramsay. "The knowledge gained also will improve our understanding of the range of vaccine responses in particular subpopulations, including newborns, young children, the elderly, patients taking immunosuppressive medications and those with underlying diseases of the immune system, such as allergies and autoimmune diseases."

Besides BRI, other research centers participating in the program include: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Emory University in Atlanta, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Stanford University and Yale University.