Conferences

Vaccines are remarkably successful in reducing morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases in both developed and developing countries. However, globally, mortality from infectious disease still exceeds 10 million deaths annually, reflecting a need for new, more effective and more deployable vaccination approaches. As many of the relatively easy vaccines have already been made, vaccinology is now tackling more difficult diseases, often caused by complex and genetically variable pathogens. A better understanding of the immunological mechanisms underpinning existing and novel vaccines is therefore required. Fortunately, research efforts to uncover new molecular and cellular techniques offer exceptional opportunities for improved vaccine design. A better understanding of the immunology of vaccination will be of value in evidence-based design of new vaccines against major global causes of mortality such as HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, and against emerging infections such as swine influenza and dengue. Advances in immunology, genomics and systems biology are beginning to offer a deeper understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of host immunity, and the pivotal role played by the innate immune system in shaping the adaptive immune response. This is providing new opportunities to identify new signatures of vaccine immunogenicity and protective efficacy, which should facilitate vaccine development and guide improved vaccine design. The Keystone Symposia meeting on Immunological Mechanisms of Vaccination will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scientists in vaccinology, immunology and pathogen biology, to address recent advances in these fields and their potential for accelerating vaccine design and development.

http://www.keystonesymposia.org/12S3