Mark Poznansky, MD, PhD, MGH Research Scholar Profile
MGH Research Scholar Mark Poznansky, MD, PhD, is investigating new strategies to speed the development of new vaccines for emerging infectious diseases.
Rapid Vaccine and Immunotherapy Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases
Steve and Deborah Gorlin MGH Research Scholar 2015-2020
Director, Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Rapid Vaccine and Immunotherapy Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases
There is a pressing need for new vaccines and immunotherapies for emerging infectious diseases (EID) such as the Ebola virus.
These therapies need to be developed rapidly and be provided at low cost in response to a sudden outbreak of these diseases.
We have developed a platform for the rapid generation and testing of vaccines for EIDs, which has shown promising results in vaccine development for Lassa fever. Based on this success, my team has been selected by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to rapidly develop a new vaccine for Q fever.
We propose to develop a system called PRIME (Program for Rapid and Integrated Management of EIDs), to address each emerging infectious diseases challenge with a consortium of expert collaborators from around the USA. The consortium will work to develop vaccine constructs that can be adapted and applied in a time-sensitive and cost-effective way.
The MGH Research Scholar Award is helping Dr. Pozanansky focus his efforts on expanding the platform for vaccine development, and meet the need for effective new treatments.