Program Overview
Type: Vanderbilt Initiative Award (ViA)
The Vanderbilt Program for Next Generation Vaccines brings together scientists from the School of Medicine, the College of Arts & Science and the School of Engineering to create a complex pipeline that integrates structural biology with big data for the discovery of novel antibodies that will spur the development of next-generation vaccines. The program reinvests into two of Vanderbilt’s core strengths that resulted from past investments – the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center (VVC) and the Center for Structural Biology (CSB) – in a new and innovative way. Evidence for Vanderbilt University leadership in this research area is listed as a prerequisite for VRA funding. Investigators embrace a comprehensive vision for educating at the interface of big data, structural biology and vaccine development at all levels – undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate. Through reinvestment, investigators are able to implement a two-pronged approach: as an institution, VU becomes the leader in an emerging, highly dynamic and translational research field and we simultaneously educate the next generation of scientific leaders, creating a multiplier effect where trainees from VU continue to shape this emerging field. This TIP integrates structural biology with big data for the discovery of novel antibodies that will spur the development of next-generation vaccines.
Faculty Participants
Lead Faculty in bold
College of Arts & Science
- Jens Meiler, Professor of Chemistry
School of Medicine (Basic Sciences)
- Walter Chazin, Professor of Biochemistry
- Melanie Ohi, Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
- Benjamin Spiller, Associate Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
- Kevin Schey, Professor of Biochemistry
School of Medicine (Clinical)
- James Crowe, Professor of
Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology - Daniel Fabbri, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics
- James Slaughter, Associate Professor of Biostatistics
- Ivelin Georgiev, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology
School of Engineering
- Yevgeniy Vorobeychik, Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering