Council News Vol. 7, no. 2

VACCINF
CSR READIES NEW VACCINE STUDY SECTION
Vaccine research should reap the benefits of a new initial review group geared
especially to studies that use basic research information to understand how to
develop a vaccine, work that lacked a study section targeted specifically to it.

Responding to concerns of the
research community, NIH's

The first applications were
referred to it in June; the first

Center for
Scientific
Review
(CSR) set
up an initial
review
group to
review
applied
vaccine
research for
HIV and
other pathogens. (Basic,
early vaccine-related

Send comments to
CSR: Maryclare Walker
[email protected]
DAIDS: Polly Sager
[email protected]
DAIT: Charles Hackett
[email protected]
DMID: Regina Rabinovich
[email protected]

AIDS applications will
come in for
the September 1 receipt
date. Applicants are
strongly encouraged to
self-refer.
Infectious
disease
vaccinology
cuts across
vaccine

immunogenicity in animals
and people
* efficacy studies in animal
models
Scientific merit will be assessed
by a core 10- to 15-member
committee, which will rotate
reviewers depending on the
expertise needed for the applications at hand.
Areas of expertise include
pathogenesis of viruses, bacteria,
and protozoa; pathogen immunology; animal models; vectors;
adjuvants; cytokines; vaccine
delivery; vaccine production;
statistics; and modeling.
NIH is soliciting comments
about the new study section
from the community (see contacts in the insert at left). For
more information go to http://
www.drg.nih.gov/review/
vaccine.htm.

research and design will continue to be reviewed in AIDS
and microbiology study sections.)
Recruitment for the new study
section is already under way.

development areas, including:
* vaccine delivery approaches
* methods to assess immune
responses
* assessment of safety, reactogenicity, toxicity, and

INTRAMURAL SCIENTISTS DEVELOP DNA VACCINE FOR RABIES

A DNA vaccine protected eight monkeys from a lethal
dose of rabies virus. Developed by researchers at
NIAID's Rocky Mountain Laboratories, it is the first
DNA vaccine to completely protect primates against a
virus in the central nervous system.

about 190 days apart before challenge with DNA that encodes the
surface glycoprotein of the virus.
Investigators are working to
overcome the drawback of the
approach: the antibody response
took 30 days to occur.
This work was published in
Nature Medicine, 1998;4(8):949-52.

Though few Americans die of
the disease because of the use
of post-exposure prophylaxis
here, thousands die worldwide

in countries where such measures are not readily available. In
the recent studies, vaccinated
monkeys received two doses