ImmuKnow+

Dr. Danyvid Olivares-Villagómez and graduate student Kathleen McClanahan show off their paper snowflake-making abilities while we asked them some questions about their research... Click the image to the left to watch!

FDA Approval of Vaccines and EUA - All vaccines distributed in the USA are under regulation of the FDA. There is a Standard Process that researchers will use to go through clinical trials and vaccine approval. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA utilized a Fast-Track method that helped vaccines be tested more quickly without compromising on safety goals. Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA also was granting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) so that the vaccines could be administered to the public more quickly. It’s important to note that the FDA was working on modernizing clinical trials, including creating guidance for adaptive designs, back in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic created the need for this “fast-track” to be implemented.... Click the image to the left to continue reading.

Dr. Brent Ferrell and graduate student Matt Jenkins challenged each other to a game of Uno while we asked them some questions about their research... Click the image to the left to watch!

Dr. Justin Balko and graduate student Brandie Taylor challenged each other to a pipette race while we asked them some questions about their research.

Dr. Dawn Newcomb and graduate student Nowrin Chowdhury challenged each other to a game of Uno while we asked them some questions about their research.... Click the image to the left to watch!

We sat down with Dr. Robert Carnahan from the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center to talk about antibody therapeutics and how they can be used in the fight against COVID-19... Click the image to the left to watch!

The mRNA vaccine is a new type of vaccine that allows your body to trigger an immune response without using the actual germ to train your immune system. Instead, it trains your immune response using a piece of the virus and will later protect you from getting infected/sick if you encounter the actual virus. Since it is new, here is a list of the generalized ingredients for the mRNA vaccines currently available in the US.... Click the image on the left to learn more!

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected our lives since its emergence in December 2019 and urged the development of therapeutics and prophylactics to combat the disease. Masks, sanitizers, and social distancing have become the new normal. Although we are taking baby steps towards a COVID-free world, thousands of people are still getting infected worldwide. At the time of writing this, over 4.8 million people have died worldwide after infection with the deadly virus. COVID-19 is a complex disease. While most individuals recover after mild to manageable symptoms, a significant fraction of people developed serious complications which require hospitalization and ventilation and often progress to multiorgan failure and death... Click the image to the left to continue reading.

On January 11th, 2020, scientists around the globe awoke to the public deposition of the entire genome for the novel coronavirus – later known as SARS-CoV-2. That weekend, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin designed a vaccine based on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which adorns the surface of the virus. Just two weeks later, scientists at the NIH's Vaccine Research Center started testing the vaccine in animals. This initial design was licensed for use in the first three FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines. Many contributing factors lead to the expediency of this vaccine design, none of which compromised safety. But how could we rapidly develop a vaccine for a novel virus while other viral targets have remained elusive?... Click the image to the left to continue reading.

Last summer, acts of racial violence prompted millions of people to take to the streets to protest the longstanding injustices entrenched in our society. The scientific community – including the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation (VI4) – began to publicly acknowledge and reckon with their complacency in the inequities and discrimination that have always existed. It is clear that the community needs to change, but that doesn’t occur without dedicated and intentional work.