- Vaccine Research Center
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The Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center, more commonly known as the Vaccine Research Center (VRC), is a department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health which was established to facilitate research in vaccine development. The VRC is dedicated to improving global human health through the rigorous pursuit of effective vaccines for human diseases.
Contents
History
The VRC is named after former Governor of Arkansas, Dale Bumpers, and his wife Betty Flanagan Bumpers, who are known for their campaigning for immunization of children.[1] The Center was opened under the Presidency of Bill Clinton, himself a former Arkansas Governor. [2]
In 1999 Dr Gary Nabel was named first director of the Center by Health Secretary Donna E. Shalala. [3] He remains in that post at the time of writing (2009).
Projects
In July of 2010, a collaboration between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and officials at the Vaccine Research Center found that two human HIV antibodies, named VRC01 and VRC03, could potentially be used against a wide range of types and mutations of HIV in the design of a preventive HIV vaccine for human use, as well as in the formation of better antiretroviral therapy drug cocktails. The discovery, a potentially landmark one in the drive to find a vaccine for AIDS should it be validated and further improved, will be featured in the journal Science.
The Vaccine Research Center has multiple Research Laboratories and Research Sections:
- Virology Laboratory
- Vector Core Section
- BSL-3 Core Virology Section
- Structural Biology Section
- Structural Virology Section
- Immunology Laboratory
- Immunology Core Section
- Human Immunology Section
- ImmunoTechnology Section
- Non-Human Primate Immunogenicity Core Section
- Flow Cytometry Core Section
- Cellular Immunology Section
- Biodefense Research Section
- Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory
- Biodefense Vaccine Translational Research and Licensure Program/Laboratory Animal Medicine
- Vaccine Production Program Laboratory
- Clinical Trials Core Laboratory
References
- ^ Profile of Dale and Betty Bumpers, Vaccine Research Center website
- ^ "Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center". National Institutes of Health. http://www.vrc.nih.gov/VRC/. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
- ^ Dr. Gary Nabel Named Director of NIH Vaccine Research Center, NIH news release, accessed 7 Jan, 2009, dated March 11, 1999
External links
Categories:- Medical organization stubs
- Medical research institutes
- National Institutes of Health
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Research institutes in the United States
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