New vaccines to eliminate old diseases says professor

09/29/09 - The development of new vaccines has the potential to eliminate some of the world's most widespread diseases, according to Dr. Annie DeGroot, director of the University of Rhode Island Institute for Immunology and Informatics.DeGroot's presentation, "New Vaccines for Old Diseases," was the inaugural lecture of the Cell and Molecular Biology Fall 2009 Seminar Series held Friday in the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences.

DeGroot, a relatively recent addition to URI's College of Environmental Life Sciences faculty, is a leading researcher in the field of vaccines.

In describing her team's approach to vaccine research, DeGroot said, "What we're trying to generate following vaccination is a host of T-cells that are going to be protective."

She cited her prior vaccine research to support the theory that solely T-cell mediated vaccines - that is, vaccines with no antibody response generated - can provide complete protection against disease.

The proof was seen in trials of smallpox vaccines performed using transgenic mice, in which DeGroot said there was "absolutely no antibody response generated by this vaccine, yet 100 percent protection."

"That goes completely contrary to immunologic dogma, that's where we love to be. There's nothing better, according to my team, than dispelling myths."

DeGroot will be showing these findings in Singapore next week.

During her presentation, she also talked about advances in vaccine development in the fight against Swine Flu, among other flu strains. DeGroot explained that her team's research may suggest that "either being exposed to H1N1 in the past," or being previously vaccinated would be protective.

DeGroot's team will use blood from Rhode Island Hospital's emergency room to test this theory. She advised getting the regular flu vaccine while waiting for the swine flu vaccine to come out.

De Groot also discussed such infectious diseases as HIV and tuberculosis (TB). According to De Groot, "one-third of the world has latent TB infection," meaning the potential to develop TB.

TB is especially problematic in developing nations where those afflicted with TB don't have access to medications, DeGroot said.

DeGroot mentioned the "Thai army" vaccine that has come out for HIV/AIDs, and stated it was only about 33 percent effective, calling the results "underwhelming."

DeGroot has been working since 1996 on her own GAIA (Global Alliance to Immunize Against Aids) vaccine, which she said was "purely epitope-driven."

This enables the vaccine to target HIV better because HIV is an infection that is very good at evading immune responses. DeGroot said that HIV is particularly widespread in Africa, where "there's a real problem with viral diversity."

As for what's next on the horizon for DeGroot, her upcoming goal is targeting neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including malaria, which she called "a big problem" with "lots of different strains." She is hopeful about developing a single universal vaccine that could work for all types of malaria.

One of the lecture's attendees, Neil Greene, said the opening that DeGroot mentioned having in her lab for a graduate student was of particular interest to him. The senior microbiology major said he is currently eyeing graduate school.

He called DeGroot "a pioneer in the field" of researching "emerging infectious diseases." The next lecture in the seminar series is on Oct. 9 and is entitled, "Studies of Cell Type in Yeast." It will be given by Jeffrey Laney of Brown University and will be held in CBLS 010 at 3 p.m.