Improving Global Health

VTC Researcher in Bangladesh holding baby with motherFaculty researchers at the Vaccine Testing Center (VTC) of the University of Vermont and the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, study human vaccines with the goal of understanding and preventing infectious diseases around the globe. Our team is particularly interested in new vaccines with the potential to prevent or control infectious diseases in developing countries. We are a diverse team of clinicians, study coordinators, scientists, and laboratory personnel. Volunteers are critical to our work and our human research studies are designed and performed with rigorous oversight and safety.

Vaccine Testing Center Director Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D. from UVM's "Move Mountains" Campaign

Volunteer

Cute Mosquitos Ask You to Help the Global Community -Volunteer!

Want to help your global community? 

Are you between the ages of 18 -40? We're looking for healthy volunteers to help us fight mosquito-borne illnesses through vaccine studies.

To find out more about our ongoing pre-study screenings: 

Volunteers are a critical part of our research and their contributions save lives every day. Thank you! 

Research 

Lab Tech looking in microscope

The Vaccine Testing Center's team of scientists and researchers are committed to solving the world’s most pressing infectious disease challenges. Our research spans the translational spectrum from lab-based human immunology to domestic clinical trials to large-scale international field research. Together with national and international collaborators and local volunteers, we help develop vaccines to address global infectious diseases, including rotavirus, cholera, dengue and other flaviviruses. More VTC research.

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News

Zika virus particles shown in African green monkey kidney cells.

Zika virus particles (red). (Image courtesy of NIAID)

Vaccine Testing Center a Site for New NIH Live, Attenuated Zika Vaccine Trial

Vaccinations have begun in a first-in-human trial of an experimental live, attenuated Zika virus vaccine developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The trial will enroll a total of 28 participants at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Immunization Research in Baltimore, Md., and at the Vaccine Testing Center at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Learn more about the trial.

Other news, publications and awards...

 

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VTC Showcase

 Kirkpatrick Appointed Chair of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics

Beth D. Kirkpatrick, M.D., Director of the Vaccine Testing Center and Professor in Infectious Diseases, has been appointed as Chair of the UVM Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (MMG) at the Larner College of Medicine and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Learn more here.

Student Stories

Dylan Koundakjian Headshot

This summer the VTC team welcomes Dylan Koundakjian. Dylan joined the Diehl Lab as a Medical Student Summer Research Fellow to carry out his project, “CD14+CD16+ monocyte stimulation of B cell responses in DENV vaccination.” A native of Bedford, MA, he previously worked in Dr. Bruce Walker’s lab at MGH studying the host response to HIV infection. In a pivot from his work with T cells, this project focuses on characterizing a monocyte subset which becomes activated in response to acute dengue infection/vaccination and will test the mechanism by which this population stimulates B cells to differentiate into antibody-producing plasmablasts. Dylan hopes to translate this immunology research experience into a career as a physician-scientist.