The Neglected Global Diseases Initiative and the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UBC Chapter co-sponsored a Celebrate Research Week event on Friday, March 4, 2011 at the Life Sciences Centre.
Speakers:
Dr. Lindsay Eltis, Professor, Microbiology & Immunology, and Head of Centre for Tuberculosis Research at UBC
Title: Tuberculosis: the modern face of an ancient scourge.
Dr. Rebecca Goulding, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines
Title: Open Innovation and Neglected Diseases
Mr. Angus Livingstone, Managing Director, University-Industry Liaison Office
Title: Global Access Principles: Dream versus Reality
Dr. Peter von Dadelzsen, Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Title: The PRE-eclampsia-Eclampsia Monitoring, Prevention and Treatment (PRE-EMPT) Project in Pregnancy
Facilitator: Dr. Kishor Wasan, Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences; CIHR/iCo Therapeutics Research Chair in Drug Delivery for Neglected Global Disease
Poster Competition Winners
1st Prize
Nathan Corbett
Ontogeny of TLR Innate Immune Response
Nathan Patrick Corbett1, Edgardo Fortuno III2, Kevin Ho2, Natalie Hawkins3, Juliet Crabtree4, Annie Rein-Weston4, Lynn Hajjar4, Steven G. Self4 and Tobias Kollmann, MD, PhD5, (1)Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (2)Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (3)Vidi, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, (4)University of Washington, Seattle, WA, (5)BC Children’s Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Newborns and young infants have long been known to suffer increased infectious morbidity and mortality as compared to older children and adults; and they also display suboptimal immune responses to many vaccines. However, it is well recognized that the incidence of infections is highest in the first few weeks of life, decreasing only over years after birth. Furthermore, most vaccines are not administered at birth, but over the first 2 years of life. A more complete understanding of the ontogeny of the innate immune system over the first few years of life is thus urgently needed to prevent infections in early life. Our data contradict the widely held notion of a linear progression from an ‘immature’ neonatal to a ‘mature’ adult pattern, but instead indicate the existence of qualitative and quantitative age-specific changes in innate immune reactivity in response to TLR stimulation. This has significant implications for immune modulatory strategies including vaccine adjuvant design.
2nd Prize: Four-way tie
Wing Ki (Vicki) Cheng
Title: Using Topical Synthetic CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide in Vaccines in the Events of Bioterrorism or Influenza Pandemics
Paloma Salas Fernandez
Title: Synthesis, Characterization, and in vitro Biological Activity of Chloroquine and Mefloquine Ferrocenyl Carbohydrate Conjugates
Rebecca Gordon
Title: Global Initiative for Village Empowerment (GIVE)
Olga Pena
Title:Novel Innate Defense Regulator (IDR)-1018 as a potential therapeutic for global infectious diseases
Congratulations to all the winners!