@article{Translational:1809,
      recid = {1809},
      author = {Moser, Brittany Anne},
      title = {Engineering the Immune System to Improve Vaccines: From  Molecular Probe Design to Translational Applications},
      publisher = {University of Chicago},
      school = {Ph.D.},
      address = {2019-06},
      pages = {195},
      abstract = {Vaccines are one of the greatest achievements to public  health allowing almost complete eradication of small pox  and polio and dramatically reducing the incidence of a  variety of other diseases. However, many diseases still  exist without a vaccine. To create vaccines for these  diseases we need to understand and create enhanced  responses that enable proper immune activation. This  organized activation can be achieved using adjuvants,  components added to the vaccine to enhance the immune  response. Typically, vaccines have been empirically  derived, leading to expensive and lengthy development  periods. Our lab is focused on creating tools to enable  rational and optimized vaccine design. My work focuses on  two main areas: creating tools to probe immune responses on  the single-cell level, leading to a greater understanding  of immune activation and applying this understanding to  create more effective vaccines to challenging diseases.  

One of the biggest challenges of creating new vaccines is  attaining an adequate safety profile. Many vaccines can  provide protection but do not translate to the clinic due  to the high levels of inflammation they induce. CpG, a  synthetic bacterial DNA mimic, has demonstrated great  promise as an adjuvant, however most vaccines that include  CpG do not make it through clinical trials. Using an NF-kB  inhibitor, we demonstrate that we can enhance the safety  and protection afforded by CpG and many other common  adjuvants. 

	Many of the most effective vaccines stimulate  multiple innate immune pathways. When this combination of  pathways leads to enhancement of the immune response this  is known as an immune synergy. Although the existence of  immune synergies is well understood, the mechanism of  enhanced activity is still unknown. Few tools exist to  directly examine spatial and temporal elements of immune  activation and synergies. Described here are two tools to  elucidate the spatiotemporal aspects of innate immune  responses. The first is a particle-based system allowing  effective agonist presentation and tracking of activated  cells. The second is an optogenetic innate immune receptor  allowing the receptor to be activated with the spatial and  temporal precision of light.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/1809},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.1809},
}