The search for an affordable, multivalent and stable vaccine  

Download the PDF:  Defeating respiratory disease in children 

The Crisis is Global
Worldwide, more than 5 million children under age 5 die each year of respiratory infections, such as pneumonia and influenza. Vaccines for diseases in the developing world would seem to be the answer, but several factors have, until now, made successful immunization projects difficult until now.

What's stopping us?

Cost factor Many vaccines make programs cost-prohibitive Moving target Sometimes protection against most relevant viruses is elusive Instability issue Medications are often unstable and not portable enough for travel where they are most needed. Dosing dilemma Once is often not enough to be effective in preventing. Real-World Solutions This exciting new GIL envisions a time when low-cost vaccines designed for travel can be administered by local healthcare providers in remote villages on every continent.  Addressing the obstacles that currently stand in the way can mean a reversal in the tragic trend in child mortality worldwide.

Impact: Global Health This GIL is designed to reverse the devastating disease burden and deaths associated with respiratory virus infection in infants and young children.  The program uses state-of-the-art techniques which will allow local health care practicioners to participate in design, delivery and use in variant health care settings. GIL GOAL To make vaccines more accessible for children and infants in developing countries   PARTNERS UNC School of Medicine, Carolina Vaccine Institute, Global Vaccines (a not-for-profit company in Research Triangle Park, NC)

GIL Leadership

Ralph Baric, PhD, Professor of Epidemology at UNC, says his GIL aims to develop a single dose vaccine to use intranasally.  This revolutionary design is being developed through the use of synthetic genomics and a computer-based genome design.