The Anti-Poverty Vaccines - Vaccines for Neglected Tropical Diseases

Organizer: Peter Hotez, Sabin Vaccine Institute and George Washington University

Neglected tropical diseases are the most common infections of poor people living in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the tropical regions of the Americas. These diseases cause childhood growth and development impairments, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and reduction of worker productivity. This symposium will focus on the scientific challenges and economic and political hurdles of developing vaccine antigens for the neglected tropical diseases.

Program

4:30 - 5:00
Arrivals/Registration

5:00 - 5:05
Welcome and Introduction
Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, Program Organizer

5:05 - 5:30
Hookworm and the Anti-Poverty Vaccines
Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Tropical Medicine, The George Washington University and Sabin Vaccine Institute

5:30 - 6:00
Vaccines for Chlamydia Trachomatis Infections
Luis M. de la Maza, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine

6:00 -6:30
Vaccine Development for Leptospirosis: From the Favelas to the Molecule
Albert Ko, MD, Division of International Medicine and Infectious Disease, Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Brazil

6:30 - 6:45
Questions and Answers/Open Discussions

Reception to Follow.

Hookworm and the Anti-Poverty Vaccines
Peter Hotez
Sabin Vaccine Institute and George Washington University

The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) represent a group of parasitic and bacterial diseases, occurring primarily in rural areas or impoverished urban areas of developing countries. Because of their chronic and stigmatizing character and their impact on child development, pregnancy outcomes, and worker productivity, NTDs are considered poverty-promoting conditions. Through the activities of public-private partnerships, first or second-generation recombinant vaccines for some NTDs, including human hookworm infection, have undergone early development and clinical testing. Early development of such antipoverty vaccines will require the establishment of product development public-private partnerships and partnerships with innovative developing countries where these diseases are endemic.

Vaccines for Chlamydia Trachomatis Infections
Luis de la Maza
University of California, Irvine

In countries with poor hygienic conditions Chlamydia trachomatis causes trachoma, the most common cause of preventable blindness in the World. In developed countries, C. trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen. In the 1960s several vaccine trials using the whole organism were performed trying to protect against trachoma. We have recently formulated a vaccine using a preparation of the major outer membrane protein (MOMP). Mice immunized with MOMP, and adjuvants that favor a Th1 response, were protected against a genital challenge. We have now immunized monkeys using the MOMP to assess the feasibility of protecting against an ocular challenge.

Vaccine Development for Leptospirosis: From the Favelas to the Molecule
Albert Ko
Instituto Gonçalo Moniz, Brazil and Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease, is an important cause of hemorrhagic fever and acute renal failure among rural-based subsistence farmers and urban slum dwellers in developing countries. Prevention of leptospirosis in these neglected populations may require an effective vaccine due to the difficulties in controlling reservoirs and environmental sources of transmission in these settings. We identified a putative virulence factor in Leptospira, Le