Grant: Operating Grant

Infectious diseases are a major cause of morbidity, mortality and reduced economic productivity in Canada and the world. Vaccination remains the most effective public health measure to prevent infectious diseases. However, there are few vaccines against chronic infectious diseases and no vaccines against chronic parasitic diseases. Often, pathogens that establish chronic infections either manipulate their host environment or take advantage of conditions to ensure their long-term survival. Therefore, even in settings of slowly progressive chronic infection, a vaccine must mediate a rapid immune response at the outset of infection in order to prevent these pathogens from manipulating the host environment to their benefit. This project is focused on understanding the initial events of the infectious process in settings of known protective immunity. The information gleaned from this research will be employed to develop novel and unconventional vaccination strategies against chronic infections of global health importance.