Vaccine conference comes to Providence Oct. 17-19

By PBN Staff

PROVIDENCE – The fifth annual Vaccine Renaissance Conference will be in Providence next week Monday to Wednesday.

The conference, partially supported through a grant given to the University of Rhode Island’s Institute for Immunology and Informatics (known as iCubed), will feature presentations on findings on vaccine research, vaccine delivery, clinical trials and basic immunology.

Some of the researchers slated to attend include:

• Dr. Mark Steinhoff, division director of the Global Health Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. “[A] world-renowned thought leader in the field of vaccines and pregnancy will speak about preventing infant deaths from influenza by vaccinating during pregnancy.”

• Dr. Cyril Gay of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will describe the Animal Research Service’s efforts to eradicate infections affecting both humans and animals. SARS and Swine-Origin Pandemic Influenza are two recent examples of emerging infectious diseases originally derived from animals.

• Dr. Randolph Seidler, global head of research and development in animal health at the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. He will speak on animal vaccines.

There will also be vaccine experts addressing the topics of biodefense and AIDS.

The conference will be held Oct. 17 and 18 at the Hotel Providence. A free hands-on laboratory and informatics training will take place on Wednesday at URI’s Feinstein Providence Campus; it is open to any researcher.

Tickets for the conference are $125 for one day, $175 for two days. The whole conference is available to students for $20.

For more information, click here.