From May 23rd-27th, the Institute for Immunology and Informatics (iCubed) will once again host a workshop in vaccine design for neglected tropical diseases and emerging infectious diseases (NTD/EID). This self-funded, annual workshop has been created to give interested researchers an opportunity to work one-on-one with the developers of the iVAX toolkit, developed by EpiVax and now available for research collaborations on NTD/EID at the iCubed.
Fellows have worked on Leishmania, Cysticercosis, Chagas disease, and Hepatitis C (genotype IV). A few of the publications that resulted from previous workshops are linked here:
- An immunoinformatic approach for identification of Trypanosoma cruzi HLA-A2-restricted CD8(+) T cell epitopes.
- Preclinical development of HIvax: Human survivin highly immunogenic vaccines.
- Identification and retrospective validation of T-cell epitopes in the hepatitis C virus genotype 4 proteome: an accelerated approach toward epitope-driven vaccine development.
- Time for T? Immunoinformatics addresses vaccine design for neglected tropical and emerging infectious diseases.
Over the course of the week-long program, NTD/EID research fellows will have the opportunity to learn about state-of-the-art informatics tools and how they may be applied to rapidly develop vaccines. Fellows will train at iCubed, EpiVax’s partner in vaccine design, and then return to their home institutions with continued support to sustain their projects through the traineeship period.
Space is limited. Six fellows will be selected, based on the applicant’s current involvement in research on neglected tropical diseases, prior doctoral or equivalent training in immunology (or a related area in the vaccine development field) and substantial commitment from the applicant’s home institution to their future research career. The fellows will be expected to generate data and publications after the training, and to submit grants for research using the toolkit.
The cost for attending the workshop is $2,225 which entirely covers organizational costs (instructors), food and local hotel accommodation for five days/four nights for the fellows. (Air BnB is an option, and the price of the workshop would be adjusted if alternative housing is identified). To apply, please provide the following information:
- A description of the fellow’s work, including reasons for wanting to learning to use the toolkit and how it would apply to their research project in the future (maximum two paragraphs).
- Curriculum Vitae.
- 2 letters of reference.
- All application materials should be sent electronically to Ryan Tassone at rtassone.uri@gmail.com.