November 7, 2007
Group Health awarded $23 million for new vaccine research unit
UW and Seattle Children’s Hospital will collaborate in clinical trials
Seattle—The Group Health Center for Health Studies has received a
$23.7 million federal contract to establish and lead a Vaccine and Treatment
Evaluation Unit (VTEU) that will conduct clinical trials of promising
vaccines and therapies for infectious diseases.
Group Health will collaborate with the University of Washington (UW)
Department of Medicine, the UW Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases,
and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute to operate the VTEU. The
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will fund the
seven-year contract.
Group Health is now among eight institutions nationwide to host a VTEU,
making it an integral part of national efforts to develop safe and effective
vaccines for the public good.
“Our strength at recruiting study participants from the Group Health
membership is a great advantage for this type of research,” explained
Lisa Jackson, MD, MPH, a Group Health
senior scientist and the new unit’s principal investigator. “It allows us
access to a large and diverse population, which can lead to better evidence
about vaccines to protect people of all ages and with a variety of health
conditions.” Such knowledge is especially important to respond effectively
to emerging public health threats such as pandemic flu and bioterrorism, she
added.
The nation’s VTEUs were first established in 1962 as a national resource
for vaccine development. VTEU investigators have tested and advanced
vaccines for many diseases including influenza, pneumonia, malaria, whooping
cough, cytomegalovirus infection, and anthrax.
“Establishing a VTEU in Seattle makes good sense given all the other
vaccine research-related activities in our area,” said Willliam J. Bremner,
MD, chair of the UW Department of Medicine. He pointed, for example, to UW
research on HIV vaccine, biodefense, and emerging infectious diseases, as
well as the University’s recent establishment of a Department of Global
Health.
Jackson said the unit will also benefit from its scientists’ “strong
track record” in vaccine and infectious disease research. The unit’s
co-investigators are Dr. Anna Wald, professor in UW’s Department of Medicine
and Division of Allergy & Infectious Disease, and Dr. Janet Englund,
associate professor of pediatrics in the Department of Infectious Diseases
at Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
The nation’s other VTEUs are located at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston, TX; Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH; Emory
University in Atlanta, GA; the University of Iowa in Iowa City; the
University of Maryland at Baltimore; St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO;
and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.
About Group Health Center for Health Studies
Founded in 1947, Group Health is a Seattle-based, consumer-governed,
nonprofit health care system that coordinates care and coverage. Group
Health Center for Health Studies conducts research related to prevention,
diagnosis, and treatment of major health problems. It is funded primarily
through government and private research grants.
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