Towards Precision Vaccines: Lessons From the Second International Precision Vaccines Conference

Abstract

Other than clean drinking water, vaccines have been the most effective public health intervention in human history, yet their full potential is still untapped. To date, vaccine development has been largely limited to empirical approaches focused on infectious diseases and has targeted entire populations, potentially disregarding distinct immunity in vulnerable populations such as infants, elders, and the immunocompromised. Over the past few decades innovations in genetic engineering, adjuvant discovery, formulation science, and systems biology have fueled rapid advances in vaccine research poised to consider demographic factors (e.g., age, sex, genetics, and epigenetics) in vaccine discovery and development. Current efforts are focused on leveraging novel approaches to vaccine discovery and development to optimize vaccinal antigen and, as needed, adjuvant systems to enhance vaccine immunogenicity while maintaining safety. These approaches are ushering in an era of precision vaccinology aimed at tailoring immunization for vulnerable populations with distinct immunity. To foster collaboration among leading vaccinologists, government, policy makers, industry partners, and funders from around the world, the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children's Hospital hosted the 2^nd International Precision Vaccines Conference (IPVC) at Harvard Medical School on the 17^th-18^th October 2019. The conference convened experts in vaccinology, including vaccine formulation and adjuvantation, immunology, cell signaling, systems biology, biostatistics, bioinformatics, as well as vaccines for non-infectious indications such as cancer and opioid use disorder. Herein we review highlights from the 2^nd IPVC and discuss key concepts in the field of precision vaccines.

Keywords: International Precision Vaccines Conference; adjuvants; formulations; non-infectious diseases; precision vaccines; systems biology; vaccinologists; vulnerable populations.

Figure 1

Attendees of the 2^nd biennial International Precision Vaccines Conference. The 2^nd biennial IPVC (17^th and 18^th October 2019), sponsored by the Boston Children’s Hospital Precision Vaccines Program, was held at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, USA).

Figure 2

Integrated approaches to precision vaccinology. Discovery and development of precision vaccines may include a series of sequential approaches including system biology analysis of biosamples from clinical trials to define vaccine-induced cellular and molecular signatures that correlate with immunogenicity, thereby generating new mechanistic hypotheses; use of human in vitro systems for hypothesis testing and targeted adjuvant discovery employing population-specific biosamples, selection of appropriate animal models and clinical trials in specific vulnerable populations.