Vaccines and Clinical Trials

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we learned much about vaccine development, including nomination of candidate vaccine targets, analysis of immune responses, deployment, and distribution of vaccines. A major conclusion from those experiences is the conviction that we need to expand technologies that lead to effective vaccine nominations and development. This interactive, discussion-based course is designed to highlight the most recent advances in immunology, microbiology, and vaccinology regarding new vaccine developments. The focus of the course is to understand how vaccines against bacterial pathogens were developed in the past and what improvements can be implemented today. Using real-life clinical cases, we make connections between disease manifestations, cellular responses, immunity, and infection. We cover general principles of vaccinology and discuss examples of successful vaccines that were produced using reverse vaccinology approaches. For example, we discuss how a serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis was discovered and why it is efficacious. We also talk about one of the oldest vaccines in the world, bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and define its protective efficacy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and cross-protection offered against SARS-CoV-2. We discuss why there are no currently available vaccines against pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, or E. coli. Students learn to understand results from past and ongoing clinical trials where vaccines targeting difficult-to-handle pathogens are evaluated. We talk about the importance of machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches to developing new vaccines. Finally, we discuss how advancements in sciences are translated in the budding of new biotech start-ups and spin-offs, which offer new approaches for vaccine development. Students may not take both BIOT S-212 and BIOT S-215 (offered previously) for degree or certificate credit.