Fine-tuning Immune Response
Kevin Saunders, PhD’10, is the Norman L. Letvin, MD Distinguished Professor in Surgery and the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI). He is also the associate director of DHVI. He said vaccine research has entered the rational design phase: “We’re working with molecules we’ve computationally designed.”
We are no longer working in the dark. We understand better how the vaccines work and how to fine-tune them to do what we want. In traditional vaccines, we would give a sub-unit of a pathogen and an immune response would occur. People would be protected, but we didn’t know why.
Today, we know what types of immune responses are protective. We are using computational protein engineering to design molecules that can give that kind of response. We’re using AI and machine learning to help us.
On the back end, we can look at the specific immune response using high-tech science to see whether the vaccine did what it was supposed to do. We’re sequencing the antibodies to see if they are the correct ones and if they are binding to the correct sites.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology means vaccines can be manufactured quickly, which has increased the number of vaccine candidates that can be tested.
There are so many things to be excited about right now. HIV vaccines have taken a major step forward in the last year or so. Coronavirus vaccines are taking off, and we’re all working hard to come up with a vaccine that has durable protection. We’re also working on vaccines that create immunity at sites, such as mucosal tissues in the nose, to prevent transmission of respiratory viruses. And there’s been a shift in cancer vaccines; Duke seems to be making some real progress there.
Duke is one of the forerunners in the field. Right now, we have three really different programs that are all being spearheaded by groups at Duke: a pan-coronavirus vaccine, a pan-influenza vaccine, and an HIV vaccine.
What Comes Next:
- Neuroscience: Using New Technologies to Understand the Brain
- Medical Education: Training Students to be Change Agents
- Geriatric Medicine: Caring for the Aging Brain
- Health Equity: Addressing Disparities in Pallative Care
- Cancer Research and Care: Personalized and More Effective Therapies
- Epidemiology and Population Health: Reaching Beyond Our Walls
- Integrative Immunobiology: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Human Immune System
- Genomics and Precision Health: Using Genetic Tools to Prevent Disease
Story originally published in DukeMed Alumni News, Fall 2024.
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