Vaccine & Immunological Research and Clinical Trials

Emerging and endemic infectious diseases, such as Ebola and Zika, pose a significant threat to global public health. Our health and medical research efforts in Africa, South America, and Asia have provided us with unique scientific, programmatic, and data management expertise specific to the identification and characterization of infectious diseases. We employ a range of surveillance and epidemiological techniques that enable us to rapidly detect, characterize, and respond to emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases, whether naturally occurring or introduced by an act of bioterrorism. Our scientists have implemented laboratory surveillance programs for nosocomial infections and antimicrobial resistance in medical treatment centers both within and outside of the US. These programs produce actionable data that are used in planning, implementing, and evaluating public health policies. Our staff also have supported surveillance networks with rapid characterization of resistance patterns, lab support during outbreak investigations, and reporting of clinically relevant bacterial pathogens in order to identify new cases of antimicrobial resistance. These surveillance activities allow our scientists to identify potentially vulnerable populations, detect communicable disease when and where they occur, and contain outbreaks before they spread.

One of the final steps in drug development and delivery is human safety and efficacy testing via clinical trials. The success of these clinical studies is dependent not only on the drug but also on the capability and experience of the staff executing the trial.

Our clinical and research staff have significant experience executing and managing a wide variety of clinical trials, including single- and multi-site studies, both domestically and internationally. We work closely with our customers to execute Phase I-IV clinical trials, from the study design, to research operations support, and to data management and analysis. Our clinical support includes coordinating training and patient activities, tracking volunteers and patients, managing test articles, handling and storing specimen, conducting clinical site monitoring, and providing statistical support for analyses. Our work on these critical programs has led to the delivery of new vaccines, novel invasive and non-invasive therapies, and the implementation of new medical devices. CAMRIS researchers and scientists have supported malaria and H1N1 influenza vaccine clinical trials, as well as research and surveillance of other infectious diseases, including dengue, yellow fever, malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and enteric diseases, such as shigellosis and typhoid fever. Medical advancements, validated through clinical trials, are a vital link in transferring innovative vaccines and therapeutics to the populations who need them and to ensure global health security.

Mounting scientific evidence suggests that chronic inflammation is not only associated with, but also is causal in an array of diseases, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, and dementia. Similarly, the immune system is causative in the development of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and type-I diabetes, by producing antibodies that, instead of fighting infections, attack the body’s tissues altering normal function.

CAMRIS leverages an in-depth understanding of both the normal immune response to pathogens and foreign bodies as well as immune dysfunction that cause allergic inflammation, autoimmune disorders, and rejection of transplanted organs or tissues to thoroughly investigate the causes of inflammation and autoimmune diseases and disorders. From these investigations, our researchers aim to develop immunomodulatory therapies to selectively attenuate the immune response for debilitating autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, Graves’ disease, and multiple sclerosis. Our research staff also strive to understand the underlying mechanisms, environmental and genetic factors, that contribute to allergic inflammation and apply this understanding in developing novel interventions and prevention strategies for food allergies, asthma, allergic rhinitis, and other allergic diseases. For organ and tissue transplant recipients, our goal is to develop strategies to selectively suppress the immune response to these transplanted tissues, ensuring their long-term success, while maintaining sufficient immune function to fight infection.