Overview
The HPV Serology Laboratory provides expertise and leadership on the development, validation, and standardization of serology assays for HPV studies.
The laboratory creates and improves tools that enable scientists to compare data across different vaccines and studies.
The HPV Serology Laboratory combined the former HPV Immunology Laboratory, evolving from a legacy of expertise that stretches back more than two decades.
The HPV Immunology Laboratory was formed in 2001 under the direction of Ligia Pinto, Ph.D., with a mission to provide infrastructure and scientific leadership for studying immune responses to HPV infection and vaccines in large epidemiological cohorts. In response to developments in the field and the need to increase HPV vaccine implementation worldwide, we worked with the NCI, CDC, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and various other collaborators to identify gaps in the HPV serology field. In response, the HPV Serology Laboratory was established in January 2017.
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Focus
HPV Immune Response
- Seek increased understanding of the immunogenicity, i.e., the ability of an antigen to provoke an immune response, of currently licensed HPV vaccines.
- Study immune responses to fewer doses of the HPV vaccine as part of clinical trials.
- Evaluate serological responses to HPV vaccines in different demographic and patient groups.
- Provide laboratory-based evidence to inform public health decisions regarding novel vaccine recommendations and vaccine efficacy, particularly in regard to more cost-effective and fewer-dose vaccines.
- Lead HPV Serology Standardization to harmonize HPV Serology in clinical trials in a collaboration with the NCI, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CDC, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, WHO, Karolinska Institute and Public Health England.
HPV Operating Procedures
Protection against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection after vaccination is believed to be mediated by HPV-specific antibodies. Antibody responses in HPV prophylactic vaccine trials have been assessed using different methods.
The lack of standardized assays, procedures, and reagents accessible to the scientific community has precluded the comparison of different studies evaluating immunogenicity of HPV vaccines.
The HPV Serology Laboratory was established to address some of these needs and advance HPV assay standardization. The laboratory leads an HPV Serology Standardization initiative in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
We invite you to download and use the following standard operating procedures in your own serology laboratory.