immunity News and Research

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Inadequate vaccine coverage drives Disneyland measles outbreak

Inadequate vaccine coverage is likely a driving force behind the ongoing Disneyland measles outbreak, according to calculations by a research team at Boston Children's Hospital.

16 Mar 2015

Duke study proposes strategy to protect more people from HPV using limited public funds

A Duke University study proposes a strategy to better use limited public health care dollars for protecting more people from a sexually transmitted infection called human papillomavirus (HPV) and the cancers it can cause.

12 Mar 2015

Research findings offer new insights into pathophysiology of PTSD

Researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in New York and the United Kingdom, have identified genetic markers, derived from blood samples that are linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The markers are associated with gene networks that regulate innate immune function and interferon signaling.

11 Mar 2015

Scientists design a promising vaccine for herpes viruses

Herpes simplex virus infections are an enormous global health problem and there is currently no viable vaccine.

9 Mar 2015

Adults only really catch flu about twice a decade, suggests study

Adults over the age of 30 only catch flu about twice a decade, a new study suggests. Flu-like illness can be caused by many pathogens, making it difficult to assess how often people are infected by influenza.

6 Mar 2015

Key 'energy producing' protein plays a critical role in a good immune system

A good immune system relies on a key 'energy producing' protein in immune cells to develop immunity to vaccines and disease, an international team of scientists has found.

6 Mar 2015

Finding may help advance experimental approach to improving public health

Scientists have discovered a new way to manipulate how cells function, a finding that might help advance an experimental approach to improving public health: DNA vaccines, which could be more efficient, less expensive and easier to store than traditional vaccines.

5 Mar 2015

Modified measles vaccine effective against Chikungunya virus, study finds

A modified, conventional measles vaccine has the potential to act against the Chikungunya virus. This is the result of a study at the University Clinic for Clinical Pharmacology of the MedUni Wien (Medical University of Vienna), which has now been published in the top journal "The Lancet Infectious Diseases".

2 Mar 2015

Drosophila Research Conference to highlight recent advances in genetics research

Over 1,500 scientists from 30 countries and 46 states will attend next week's 56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference organized by the Genetics Society of America, March 4–8 in Chicago, IL.

28 Feb 2015

Study focuses on improving therapeutic outcomes in cancer patients through diet-drug combination

Boosting anti-cancer immunity through diet and novel drug therapies—that's the idea behind a collaborative project involving researchers from the South Dakota State University College of Pharmacy and Sanford Research in Sioux Falls.

27 Feb 2015

Study suggests benefits of calorie restriction on healthy aging

Targeting mechanisms in the central nervous system that sense energy generated by nutrients might yield the beneficial effects of low-calorie diets on healthy aging without the need to alter food intake, suggests new research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

27 Feb 2015

Researchers reveal how malaria parasite deploys genetic trickery to escape immune system attack

Up to one million people -- mainly pregnant woman and young children -- are killed each year by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the most devastating form of human malaria.

26 Feb 2015

Gates Foundation awards $2.5 million to support development of vaccine-filled microneedles

The Georgia Institute of Technology and Micron Biomedical have been awarded $2.5 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the development of dissolvable microneedle patches for polio immunization. The patches will be studied to evaluate their potential role as part of the worldwide efforts to eradicate polio.

25 Feb 2015

Case Western dental researcher discovers new way to model how T cells cause inflammation in mice

Case Western Reserve University dental researcher Pushpa Pandiyan has discovered a new way to model how infection-fighting T cells cause inflammation in mice.

23 Feb 2015

MD Anderson awarded more than $22 million in research grants from CPRIT

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has received more than $22 million in research grants this week from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Approximately half of the funds awarded for Individual Investigator Research Awards went to MD Anderson faculty as well as 40 percent of total IIRA awards that include those for children's and adolescent cancer and early detection and prevention.

21 Feb 2015

New Duke-NUS-led study identifies super-potent antibody that can neutralize dengue virus

A new Duke-NUS-led study has identified a super-potent antibody which requires a minute amount to neutralize the dengue virus.

21 Feb 2015

Researchers reveal how C. difficile wreaks havoc on guts, causes life-threatening diseases

In a new paper in the journal Infection and Immunity, the researchers lay out for the first time exactly how C. difficile wreaks havoc on the guts of animals in a short time, and causes severe diarrhea and life-threatening disease in humans.

19 Feb 2015

UCSD researchers make new attempt to develop malaria vaccine candidate

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine used algae as a mini-factory to produce a malaria parasite protein. The algae-produced protein, paired with an immune-boosting cocktail suitable for use in humans, generated antibodies in mice that nearly eliminated mosquito infection by the malaria parasite.

19 Feb 2015

Researchers show importance of DNA damage in fine tuning of innate immune system

For the first time scientists from Umeå University show the importance of DNA damage in fine tuning of our innate immune system and hence the ability to mount the optimal inflammatory response to infections and other biological dangers.

18 Feb 2015

TNF signaling molecule triggers Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis

Cells lining the intestinal tract form a critical barrier, protecting our bodies from the billions of bacteria living in the gut. Breaches in this barrier are driven largely by a single signaling molecule called tumor necrosis factor (TNF), elevated amounts of which are associated with inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

17 Feb 2015