The Vaccine, Immunity, and Cancer Directorate conducts preclinical and clinical research in the areas of vaccines, infections and cancer, with an emphasis on human papillomavirus (HPV) and SARS-CoV-2. We develop standards and assays that we validate and use in clinical studies to advance the understanding of immune responses to infection and vaccines. Our developed assay procedures and standards are available to the scientific community to enable rigorous science and accelerate vaccine development and implementation. Our goal is to translate laboratory findings into public health changes that will contribute to the elimination of cancer.
Over the past two decades, our work has played a critical role in the understanding of systemic and mucosal immune responses induced by HPV infection and vaccines. We demonstrated that a single dose of HPV vaccine induces durable antibody responses and effectiveness. We believe standardization is the foundation for generation of reliable data that can inform new vaccine recommendations or immunogenicity of new products and lead to changes in public health practices.
In the area of cancer prevention, we are actively pursuing various preventive strategies for ovarian, prostate, pancreas, and lung cancers. We develop and test different vaccine platforms and chemoprevention agents in preclinical mouse models in collaboration with various organizations to advance promising candidates to the clinic. We also develop and validate liquid biopsy biomarkers for early detection, disease surveillance, and clinical trial monitoring.
We have a long history of research excellence at the Frederick National Laboratory and the National Institutes of Health in infectious disease immunology/vaccinology for over 30 years, with over 160 peer-reviewed publications.
Informing public health decisions in areas of HPV and COVID-19 across the globe
We believe in the power of collaboration. We leverage our expertise and collaborations to develop tools (validated assays, standards, assay evaluation panels) that support development and implementation of new vaccine recommendations and new vaccines for cancer-causing viruses and COVID-19, through private-public partnerships.
Our agile infrastructure is ready to respond to future public health emergencies. We translate laboratory-based knowledge into clinical practice to advance public health. We can operate under good clinical laboratory practice (GCLP), and collaborate with the World Health Organization, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other national and international organizations to advance our understanding of immune response to infections and vaccines. Our work informs public health decisions and contribute to the elimination of infection and cancer
Collaboration Opportunities
VICD laboratories collaborate with partners across the globe. We have established strong technological capabilities and resources that support pre-clinical and clinical studies in immunology with in-house validated assays that generated a wealth of data in high-impact studies.
We work closely with National Institutes of Health and centers worldwide that are interested in conducting studies from preclinical to clinical trials, in vaccine development, assay development and validations, and critical reagents acquisition. VICD engages with external centers through partnership mechanisms, which are primarily Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) and Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA).
To connect or collaborate with VICD, contact Bo Park, Director, Administrative and Finance.
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