Center for Vaccines and Immunology - August 2018
Director’s Notebook

On August 1 st , the Center for Vaccines and Immunology will celebrate the 2 nd Anniversary of our doors opening at UGA. In these two short years, the CVI has grown to 6 faculty and 5 research laboratories operating within its walls in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The CVI has 75 faculty, staff, fellows, and students training and performing scientific research. Studies involve vaccine development and assessment for a variety of infectious disease pathogens, such as arboviruses Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya and respiratory pathogens such as respiratory syncytial and influenza viruses. The CVI laboratories have developed models for co-infections with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Bordetella pertussis, Mycobacteria tuberculosis , pneumocystis and SIV, HIV/AIDS. Using variety of preclinical animal and clinical assessments, the faculty and staff of the CVI are studying infection, as well as vaccines and novel adjuvants, in diabetic, chronic heart disease, obesity, pulmonary obstructive cases to better understand the host-pathogen interactions to design vaccines, adjuvants, and therapeutics for the range of animal and human populations. Over the last 24 months, the CVI has been awarded 41 grants and contracts totaling ~$13,484,419 to the University of Georgia.
 
We are also quite proud of our commitment to teaching and training the next generation of biomedical scientists. Fourteen graduate students perform research activities in laboratories within the Center for Vaccines and Immunology. In addition, the CVI has welcomed undergraduate student researchers from all over campus and in the past year, 20 undergraduates have performed research activities in each of the laboratories in the CVI from a variety of programs and departments across campus. We expect to continue to expand these student programs and train more junior students in biomedical and translational immunology, infectious disease, and vaccine research.
 
The Center for Vaccines and Immunology has also been at the forefront of human vaccine trials and clinical research. CVI Faculty have established clinical collaborative sites with several investigators at institutions in the Caribbean and South America, Europe and Asia, as well as within the United States and Canada. In addition, the CVI is performing vaccine trials at the UGA Clinical Trials Research Unit for assessment of current influenza vaccines and assessment of novel vaccine strategies. In collaboration with faculty in the College of Public Health, the Center for Health & Risk Communication, School of Ecology, Department of Biochemistry, and the College Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, the CVI has expanded its collaborative outreach to many types of research activities, beyond our core immunology and infectious disease studies. We are proud of this collaborative research tradition and our faculty encourage others to talk with us about collaborative research opportunities. 
 
In addition, the CVI is actively engaged with Corporate Research activities and opportunities with Big and Not so Big Pharma. CVI has 10 ongoing research studies with biomedical companies and we are engaging more corporate sponsorship for research activities with CVI faculty. Dr. Michelle Booden is heading up this Alliance Strategy for the CVI and other investigators on campus interested in corporate sponsorship research in the biomedical sciences. If you would like to talk with her about opportunities, please contact her and she would be eager to discuss your research ideas and targeted goals with you and the possible corporate and not-for-profit options for your research sponsorship. Please contact her at mabooden@uga.edu
 
The CVI would also I like to thank the following members for agreeing to serve on the 2018-2019 CVI Executive Board and providing the CVI Faculty with advice and feedback.
 
Executive Board Members
Dr. Don Harn – Department of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Faculty of Infectious Diseases
Dr. Nancy Manley – Department of Genetics, Executive Director of Sponsored Programs
Dr. Steve Stice – Dept. of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Director of the Regenerative Biosciences Center
Dr. Christine Szymanski – Department of Microbiology, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center
Dr. Stephen Trent – Department of Infectious Diseases

The Center for Vaccines and Immunology
Welcomes New Faculty Member
Dr. Ankita Garg Jaiswal has been appointed as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and is a Full Member of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology. Dr. Jaiswal joins UGA from the University of California, San Diego, Division of Infectious Diseases and the Department of Pediatrics. She also holds a position as Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kalyani, India. Her research focuses on three related areas of interest: 1) factors responsible for reactivation of latent tuberculosis (TB) with and without co-infection with HIV; 2) mechanism(s) of Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC) mediated immune dysfunction in HIV and its role in HIV associated co-infections (cytomegalovirus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and 3) immune dysfunction in People Living with HIV (PLWH). She has over 12 years of translational research experience in the area of Infection Diseases and Immunology. Her extensive experience in various aspects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and HIV-infection, which together comprise the leading cause of lung infection and high morbidity worldwide, will enhance the Biomedical Research on the University of Georgia campus and continue to enhance Translational Research in Biomedical Sciences at UGA.
 
UGA Symposia on Host Responses to Respiratory Pathogen

The Center for Vaccines and Immunology hosted the Symposia on the Respiratory Pathogens and the Host Immune Responses on April 24-25, 2018 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Conference Center. The Symposia focused on assessing the state of the respiratory host-pathogen interactions and microbiome for the designs of improved therapeutics, vaccines, and public health. Twenty renowned leaders from academics, government, and the pharmaceutical industry in the field of respiratory immunology, infectious disease and vaccine development gave Oral Presentations. Over 200 researchers attended and presented their research at the Symposia
Three Minute Thesis (3MT™) Competition
Congratulations to Naoko Uno from the
Center for Vaccines and Immunology
Naoko Uno from the laboratory of Dr. Ted M. Ross competed in The Three Minute Thesis (3MT™) Competition on April 3, 2018 and was awarded the Grand Prize. 
She will move on to compete in the Regional 3MT Competition in Knoxville, TN in 2019.
To watch the 2018 3MT Finals Competition in its entirety, please here.
Grand Prize:   Naoko Uno, Designing a Universal Dengue Vaccine
3MT is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland.

The exercise develops academic, presentation, and research communication skills and supports the development of students’ capacities to effectively explain their research in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience.

Master’s and doctoral students have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis or dissertation topic and its significance. 3MT™ is not an exercise in trivializing or ‘dumbing-down’ research but forces students to consolidate their ideas and crystallize their research discoveries.
Not only does Naoko excel in Science, but she also excels in the Arts and Music. In June, Naoko and her bandmates of Calico Vision competed in the 2018 Flagpole Athens Music Awards at the Morton Theatre to kick off AthFest. The Upstart trophy went to this dream-pop/psych-rock outfit that made a splash in its first year with a series of memorable live performances involving creative outfits, masks, bubble machines and other ephemera. 
ARCS Foundation Scholarship
Congratulations to Ivette Nuñez
graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Ted M. Ross in the Center for Vaccines and Immunology
as the Runner Up for the 2018-19 ARCS Foundation Scholarship
In 2000, UGA became a nominating institution of the ARCS Foundation. To date, this designation has facilitated in the funding of nearly 150 UGA students working in the sciences totaling $1,144,000.
 
UGA-ARCS scholars contribute significantly to their respective fields, ranging from bench top sciences to public policy. Advancements made by ARCS scholars in biomedical technology, infectious disease eradication, and improved health care policy (among many other achievements which promote the public good) are thanks, in part, to the support of the ARCS Foundation. To know more about our scholarship and our exemplary recipients, please contact our office.
 
Ivette made a video. Take a look! Ivette's Video

Center for Vaccines and Immunology
2018 Fall Seminar and Work-in-Progress Series
Wednesdays, 11am-12noon
Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, Room S175
The Center for Vaccines and Immunology will host a Seminar Series and Work-in-Progress Presentations during the Fall, 2018 Semester.
August 22:
September 12:
September 19:
October 3:
October 10:
November 7:
November 14:
November 28:
December 5:
Stacey Schultz-Cherry
Marvin Whiteley
Whitney Rabacal
Scott Pegan
Naoko Uno/James Allen
Jorge Vidal
Donald Harn
Denise Kirschner
Mark Tompkins
St. Jude Children's Rsrch Hospital
Georgia Tech University
UGA - CVI
UGA - Biochemistry
UGA - CVI
Emory University
UGA - Infectious Diseases
University of Michigan
UGA - CVI
After a break during the summer, the CVI Seminars and Work-in-Progress Presentations will resume during the Fall Semester.
Congratulations to Shelly Samet!
For successfully defending her dissertation.
Shelly earned her Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Tompkins in the Infectious Diseases Graduate Program at the University of Georgia.
We are pleased to announce that The University of Georgia PREP has been renewed by the National Institutes of Health for another 5 years.  
This training programs provide intensive  research experiences for students ranging from the undergraduate years to post-doctoral fellowships. These programs are supported in many ways by various government and philanthropic agencies and are open to trainees from broad and diverse backgrounds.

The goal of the PREP is to equip recent post-baccalaureate students with the desire and motivation to become the next generation of biomedical researchers with the credentials to provide them with the skills necessary to excel in biomedical graduate training programs.

UGA is strongly committed to diversity  in the research work force.  PREP provides focused research training opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

This year Dr. Mark Tompkins from the Department of Infectious Diseases and a Full Member of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology and Dr. Erin Dolan in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology are co-Directors of the Program.
Dr. Mark Tompkins
Dr. Erin Dolan
For more on PREP, click here.
The International Society for Vaccines
to hold Annual Congress in ATL 
The Center for Vaccines and Immunology is a sponsor for the Congress
 
For the first time, the Congress will be held in Atlanta (on October 28-30), and invited speakers include GRA Eminent Scholars  Ravi Kane  of Georgia Tech University and  Rafi Ahmed  of Emory University. Renowned immunologist and GRA Eminent Scholar  Ted Ross  of the University of Georgia will serve as one of the two co-chairs this year’s Congress, and local co-chairs include Ahmed,  Mark Prausnitz  of Georgia Tech University and GRA Eminent Scholar  Julia Hilliard  of Georgia State University. GRA joins UGA, Georgia State, Emory and Georgia Tech as local partners for the Congress, the world's largest scientific conference for vaccines. In addition, speakers from the CDC Mercer University, GeoVax, and other institutions in the state of Georgia are participating. Over 400 participants from around the world are expected to attend the 2018 ISV Congress in Atlanta in October. Join us!! Registration is ongoing.
The 2018 ISV Congress is still accepting late breaker abstracts
 
Find out more about the
ISV Annual Congress at: