Characterisation of host immune variations that influence live-attenuated Yellow Fever vaccine adaptive immune responses.

Full title: Characterisation of host immune variations that influence live-attenuated Yellow Fever vaccine adaptive immune responses. Vaccines are one of the most effective tools in controlling viral pandemics. However, adaptive immune responses to vaccines can vary widely between individuals. Since the live-attenuated Yellow Fever vaccine is known to induce robust adaptive immune responses, we investigated that baseline molecular signatures that are associated with the magnitude of humoral and cellular immune responses. We determined that the baseline signatures associated with humoral and cellular immune responses are distinct and could be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Our results demonstrate that host intrinsic factors can influence vaccination outcome, and suggest that changes in lifestyle and environment can be explored to improve vaccine immunogenicity.
Dr. Kuan Rong Chan is a Principal Research Scientist at Duke-NUS Medical School, with close to 15 years of research experience in virology, immunology and bioinformatics. His research applies systems biology approaches to the field of virology and vaccinology, to understand how individuals respond to viral infections and vaccines. His research is currently funded by the Open Fund-Individual Research Grant from the National Medical Research Council.