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$5.5 Million Grant Funds New Vaccine Center
Monday, June 18th, 2007
A new Louisiana Vaccine Center will be established to encompass all stages of vaccine development in a collaborative effort between Tulane, Louisiana State and Xavier universities, leaders from the three institutions announced at a news conference on Friday (June 15). The new center will coordinate vaccine development and capitalize upon research achievements in infectious diseases and vaccines.
The Louisiana Board of Regents has awarded a $5.5 million grant to consolidate and advance this field of scientific expertise in Louisiana with an outstanding critical mass of participating investigators at the New Orleans institutions. The goal is to establish Louisiana in vaccine research and development with infrastructure to support expansion through large-scale national, international and private funding, as well as commercial and industrial partners, patents, licenses and royalties.
The application for the Louisiana Vaccine Center was top-ranked in the state by the Board of Regents from among 32 applications in the biological, material and information technology sciences, according to officials at the news conference.
Investigators in New Orleans have earned an international reputation for research achievement in infectious diseases, particularly in the related areas of microbial pathogenesis, host immunity and vaccine research.
"We are at the forefront in the development of a coordinated approach to combat vaccine-preventable infectious diseases," says John Clements, professor and chair of the microbiology and immunology department at the Tulane University Health Sciences Center. Clements is a co-principal investigator of the new vaccine center.
"This represents a truly collaborative effort with a combination of talents with a common vision," adds Clements, who also serves as vice dean for research at the Tulane University School of Medicine. "Now we have the tools to answer the really important questions."
Photo of press conference
Discussing their collaboration on vaccine development are John Clements (left), co-principal investigator for the Louisiana Vaccine Center, and Pamela Kozlowski, associate professor of medicine at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. (Photos by Paula Burch-Celentano)
Working across several disciplines at the universities, the researchers involved with the new center have a longstanding history of successful interaction and collectively represent one of the most significant regional research strengths with about $60 million in recent federal and commercial funding for Louisiana in this area of research.
"This center represents another example of a wonderful partnership that benefits all," says Alan Miller, interim senior vice president for health sciences at Tulane. "It's a marvelous opportunity to collaborate on vaccine development to improve quality of life. We thank the Board of Regents for their vision on this project and others."
Research now being conducted by the scientists targets diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, group B streptococci infection, sexually transmitted diseases, fungal infections such as candida, plant and bacterial toxins including ricin, as well as biodefense, nanoparticle development and sustained release for delivery of drugs and biological agents.
The Louisiana Vaccine Center will establish a framework for research and development in infectious diseases vaccines that will provide a focus for retention of established researchers and promising junior scientists; stimulate recruitment of scientific talent; foster collaborations between scientific institutions in Louisiana; and assist research and educational missions and infrastructure at the three institutions that sustained damage from Hurricane Katrina.
"We are focusing on industries of the mind in New Orleans, first and foremost the biomedical and medical sciences," says Kurt Weigle, executive director of the Downtown Development District. "We're working to create the right environment so scientists can do what they do best. Collaboration such as this must be the future of New Orleans."
In addition to Clements, Tulane researchers named in the center's proposal are: Lucia Freytag, research associate professor of microbiology and immunology; James Robinson, professor of pediatrics; Scott Grayson, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; and Vijay John, professor and chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering. The Tulane National Primate Research Center will play a role in the projects.
Lead investigator for the Louisiana Vaccine Center is Alistair Ramsay, professor and director of the gene therapy program at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. The co-principal investigator at Xavier University is Tarun Mandal, professor of pharmacology.
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June 18, 2007
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