Vaccinology Training Program

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This is a new application for a T32 training program that will train the next generation of leaders in vaccine science. The Vaccinology Training Program (VTP) builds on a strong legacy of vaccine development at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati that includes the oral polio vaccine pioneered by Albert Sabin, the development of one of the world’s leading rotavirus vaccines by Drs. David Bernstein and Richard Ward, and the more recent evaluation of multiple COVID vaccines. Cincinnati Children’s is a longstanding site within the NIH-sponsored Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) network, and features unique strengths in vaccine clinical trials including controlled human infection models (CHIMs) for evaluation of vaccines against Shigella sonnei, norovirus, cholera, and influenza; investigator-initiated trials for novel RSV vaccines, and application of systems vaccinology tools to elucidate the cellular/molecular pathways that lead to successful adaptive immune responses to vaccines in both young and aged individuals. Investigators in our program lead a large U01-funded cohort study of pregnant women and their infants studying the earliest responses to influenza infection and vaccination in order to understand the principles of immunologic imprinting. The VTP features outstanding basic science faculty pursuing a wide variety of projects relevant to vaccine development, including the areas of infectious disease pathogenesis, novel immunogen design, basic aspects of immune development and regulation, computational and functional genomics related to vaccines, and reproductive biology and immunology. The VTP will provide training to M.D., Ph.D., and MD-PhD postdoctoral researchers that will facilitate their development into successful independent investigators devoted to vaccine-relevant research. The program will support 4 trainees in the program per year, each appointed to 2-year terms. 22 expert mentors with strong track records in scientific mentorship and NIH-funded research programs will serve as the VTP mentors and faculty. Formal education in the breadth of vaccine sciences will be provided to all VTP trainees, including a seminar course in vaccinology covering bench-to-bedside aspects of vaccinology, formal education in grant writing, and targeted coursework relevant to the research project and focus (basic or translational) of individual trainees. Our program is dedicated to recruitment of trainees from diverse backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. The intended outcome is to nurture and develop VTP trainees into creative, independent scientists who will form the vaccinology workforce of the future.