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Challenges for Young Investigators in the HIV-1 Vaccine Field

Challenges for Young Investigators in the HIV-1 Vaccine Field. Dan H. Barouch Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center August 3, 2008. Importance of Innovation and New Investigators. Summit on HIV Vaccine Research and Development held on March 25, 2008 at NIH

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Challenges for Young Investigators in the HIV-1 Vaccine Field

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  1. Challenges for Young Investigators in the HIV-1 Vaccine Field Dan H. Barouch Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center August 3, 2008

  2. Importance of Innovation and New Investigators • Summit on HIV Vaccine Research and Development held on March 25, 2008 at NIH • Broad agreement on the following three themes: • Major scientific challenges face the HIV-1 vaccine field • Increased innovation and discovery research required to address these challenges • Critical to recruit and to retain new investigators • Commitment by funding organizations to foster innovation and attract new investigators to this field • Challenges = Opportunities

  3. Unique Challenges Facing Young Investigators in the HIV-1 Vaccine Field • Scientific Challenges • Career Development Challenges • Structural Challenges

  4. Scientific Challenges • Extensive viral clade and sequence diversity • Immune correlates of protection unclear • Viral evasion of humoral and cellular immune responses • Ab responses typically type-specific • No method exists to elicit broadly reactive NAbs • Attenuated viruses unsafe for human use • Lack of a small animal model • Little pharmaceutical interest • Failure of antibody and T cell-based vaccine candidates to date (VaxGen gp120, Merck rAd5-Gag/Pol/Nef)

  5. Career Development Challenges • Broad-based and flexible training required • Multidisciplinary research • Complex experimental systems • Longitudinal and dedicated mentorship critical • Postdoctoral/clinical fellows • Junior faculty • Limited funding available • Flat NIH budgets and reduced paylines • Increasing age of receipt of initial major NIH grant • Institutional support required • Competing demands on junior faculty in academic medical centers • Need for institutional commitment and protected research time

  6. Structural Challenges • Consortium-based “big science” vs. investigator-initiated research projects • Collaboration vs independence • Timeline/milestone approach vs innovation/creativity • Goal-oriented vs exploratory research • Substantial resources often required for developing a novel vaccine concept • NHP challenge studies • Human clinical trials • New ideas are needed and encouraged • New investigators are often the source of innovation • Resources rarely concentrated in the hands of new investigators

  7. Unique Challenges Facing Young Investigators in the HIV-1 Vaccine Field • Age distribution of investigators • Many senior investigators appear to be of similar age, likely related to their synchronous entry into field in mid-1980s • The responsibility to continue the HIV-1 vaccine field will fall onto the next generation of investigators (and the one after that) • Role of junior investigators therefore needs to be viewed as a critical priority for the HIV-1 vaccine field • Funding organizations • Conference organizers • Senior investigators • Institutions

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