Louisiana Vaccine Center

(Approved by the Board of Regents, 2009)
Alistair Ramsay, PhD, Director

The Louisiana Vaccine Center focuses interdisciplinary strengths in the basic and translational science of microbial pathogenesis, immunity and vaccine research to foster development of novel vaccines and therapies against infectious disease. The Center encompasses LSUHSC-New Orleans, Tulane HSC, and Xavier University of Louisiana, and is directed towards building a tower of strength, with education, research and development infrastructure to support growth and the commercialization of new discoveries. The Center has developed and consolidated excellent facilities and support services designed to aid the flow of vaccine-related research from discovery through pre-clinical testing and analysis. Center-driven education programs in infectious disease and vaccines span training opportunities for high school students, undergraduates and graduate fellows, and include entrepreneurial fellowships developed in partnership with the New Orleans BioInnovation Center. The Center thus fosters education in infectious disease and vaccines, promotes research collaborations between partner institutions, strengthens our capacity to compete for large-scale research and development grants and contracts, provides a focus for recruitment and retention of established researchers and junior scientists, and facilitates research commercialization and new local biotechnology ventures.