The Biomedical Research Institute of Southern California

Viral immunology. The objective of this program is to conduct Research into The mechanisms by which The immune system protects us against viral infections. This Research will help us to develop better vaccines and therapeutic agents for viral infections. In addition, it will assist in The design of better immunosuppressive drugs to prevent transplant rejection and autoimmunity, without compromising immunity to viral infections. This program includes pre-clinical Research on novel universal influenza vaccine, funded by The national institutes of health. Influenza causes an average of 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations per year in The u.s., while global pandemics have previously killed over 50 million people. We have confirmed that, unlike current vaccines, this novel vaccine provides effective protection against multiple different strains of influenza. Our goals are to evaluate The possible side effects, to determine The mechanism by which The vaccine protects against multiple influenza strains, and to determine whether The vaccine prevents secondary bacterial infections that often significantly increase mortality.