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The U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of ”Healthy People 2000,” a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. As part of this effort, a national network of six centers for microbicide research were set up. Researchers in plant pharmaceuticals collaborate with the Sexually Transmitted Diseases Cooperative Research Center, which is funded by a $7.4 million grant from NIH/NIAID. Research focuses on STDs and AIDS.

The following five faculty members are international leaders in infectious disease research:

• Brenda Hogue, expert in corona virus research, including SARS.
• Bertram Jacobs, an expert on pox viruses including vaccinia, smallpox, and monkey pox.
• Josephine Clark-Curtiss, a leader in research on tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases.
• Roy Curtiss, and expert on Salmonella and other enteric bacterial pathogens (Shigella, Escherichia coli) and avian pathogenic E. coli (a respiratory disease in birds).
• Shelley Haydel, a newly recruited faculty member with expertise in molecular genetic regulation of bacteria causing tuberculosis.

The plant-derived pharmaceuticals section of the CIDV includes Charles Arntzen, Hugh Mason, Qiang "Shawn" Chen, Guy Cardineau, Tsafrir Mor, and Steven Slater. This multidisciplinary research team is well-versed in molecular genetics, plant cell and tissue culture, biochemistry, immunology, protein engineering, food processing, policy studies, and intellectual property management.

Focusing on the design of crops that will accumulate therapeutic compounds and vaccines in the leaves, fruits, grains, or storage tissue, they have been able to produce immunogenic proteins that can act as oral vaccines when ingested. These Center Researchers have conducted successful Phase I clinical trials with plant-derived vaccines against hepatitis B, enterotoxigenic E. coli, and Norwalk virus. These vaccines have shown particular utility in preventing diarrhea, still one of the two top causes for child mortality worldwide. Read More »

A research group headed by Roy Curtiss is focused on various bacterial pathogens and how they colonize, invade, induce disease symptoms and modulate/subvert host immune responses. This research includes vaccines aimed at S. pneumoniae, M. tuberculosis, hepatitis B virus, influenza virus, L. monocytogenes, Eimeria species, C. perfringens, E. rhusapathiae and Yersinia pestis. Improved vaccines to prevent infections by enteric bacteria causing diarrhea and enteric fever in humans are being developed to immunize poultry and other livestock and humans. In June 2005, Dr. Curtiss received a $14.8 award (Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative) to develop an anti-pneumonia vaccine in newborns.

Every 24 hours, 40,000 children in developing countries die from preventable infectious diseases. Researchers at CIDV are leading an innovative global effort to help reverse this appalling statistic by perfecting the biotechnology and delivery systems that could give all of the world’s children access to safe, affordable vaccines that might be delivered in forms as simple as a tablet of freeze-dried tomato juice. To unify this effort, the proVacs program (Production of Vaccines from Applied Crop Sciences) was established at the Biodesign Institute to design crops that will accumulate novel proteins in edible tissues, with a major focus on oral vaccines. Vaccine priorities will be based on their importance for developing countries, their technical feasibility, and the availability of partners who can conduct quality work. The first priority will be hepatitis B, followed by vaccines against cholera, enterotoxigenic E. coli, hookworm, and Norwalk virus. proVacs will work on:

• Organizing and overseeing the bulk of work necessary to move from proof of principle to one or more licensed vaccines
• Platform technology
• Process development
• Clinical trials
• Coordinating activities such as management of intellectual property and development of a firm regulatory framework

Read More »