Poland Lab (Vaccine research)

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MISSION/OVERVIEW

Improve the health of individuals across the world by pursuing challenges posed by infectious diseases and bioterrorism through clinical, laboratory and epidemiologic vaccine research.

The Vaccine Research Group (VRG) is organized under the Clinical Pharmacology unit within the Department of Medicine. Formally organized in 1989, the VRG was founded and is headed by Gregory A. Poland, M.D. This group conducts NIH-funded research investigating the immunogenetics of vaccine response, and also conducts clinical studies of novel vaccines and adjuvants in adults and children.

The VRG successfully combines laboratory facilities for immunologic testing including serology, cell-mediated immunity, cell culture, and cytokine assays along with PCR techniques and HLA typing for immunogenetic studies using the resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project. Robert M. Jacobson, M.D. heads the clinical trials component of the VRG, which conducts trials including the Anthrax Vaccine Study and the Smallpox Vaccine Study.

FEATURE STORY

Inventing Vaccines

"Benefactors are a big part of it (funding research)," Gregory Poland, M.D., says. "They give us an incredible opportunity, and I am so grateful for it. Because they facilitate our work, they have touched every human life—our research benefits the world."

One Researcher's Heartfelt Battle

Dr. Gregory Poland is at once a warrior and a healer. He needs to be, he believes, because the war is real—too real—and the enemy is relentless.

In Dr. Poland's war, there are no rules of engagement; anything goes. The enemy is what Dr. Poland calls "unwarranted death." These are deaths caused by infectious diseases that could have been prevented by vaccinations. It is an enemy that is as ruthless as it is resourceful. Says Dr Poland:

"I was born into a Marine Corps family, and I spent my childhood growing up on military bases. As I went through medical school and residency, I knew right then and there that the warrior I was meant to be was the warrior taking on infectious diseases, to prevent them—because I just have a really hard time with death. Unwarranted death, the unexpected death."

Gregory A Poland, M.D.

“Vaccines are the singularly most important medical technology ever devised. We administer a series of vaccines over a lifetime to every single human being on earth. Our laboratory is passionate about leading and contributing to life-saving vaccines.”