Small Business: Applied Immunology and Vaccine Development – DCAI (10)

Topics

• Immunotherapeutic regimens for autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases, including allergy, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and systemic lupus erythematosus
• Therapeutic modulation of the immune system using biologics, adjuvants, cytokines, small molecules, antibodies, and proteins/peptides
• Diagnostic immunology, including biomarkers, immunological markers, assays, and reagents for measuring innate and adaptive immune system function, immune-mediated diseases, and autoimmunity
• Vaccine design, formulation, and production for all classes of vaccines targeting infectious diseases
• Pre-clinical and clinical vaccine testing, including protection from disease, immune response characterizations, toxicology, and safety studies
• Early-stage development of therapeutics directly targeting the immune response against microorganisms

Shared Interests and Overlaps:

There are shared interests with Diabetes, Metabolism, Nutrition and Obesity [EMS (10)] for small business applications examining type 1 diabetes onset and progression. Applications addressing the endocrine, metabolic and nutritional basis of diabetes and obesity may be reviewed in EMS (10). Applications focusing on the immune system may be reviewed here.

There are shared interests with Biological Chemistry, Biophysics, and Assay Development [MCST (10)] in the area of assay development. Disease-agnostic assay development may be reviewed in IMST (10) while assay development focused on immune markers, immunoassays, or use of antibodies may be assigned to DCAI (10).

There are shared interests with Dermatology, Rheumatology and Inflammation [MSOS (10)] for small business applications advancing the assessment and treatment of auto-immune and immune-mediated skeletal muscle, rheumatic and skin diseases. Applications that focus on the use of immunological therapies to treat immune-mediated diseases that affect the skin, muscle, bone, and joints may be reviewed in MSOS (10). Applications that focus on the immunological aspects of these diseases, including development of immunotherapies, are reviewed here.

There are shared interests with Respiratory Sciences [RCCS (11)] for small business applications addressing the development of therapeutics that are focused on the pulmonary system and related organs. Applications addressing diagnostics, medical devices and therapeutics that are focused on the entire pulmonary system and related organs may be reviewed in RCCS (11), while those examining immunotherapeutic regimens for asthma and allergic diseases may be reviewed here.

There are shared interests with small business panels in the Cancer Diagnosis, Prevention & Therapeutics (CDPT) Review Branch. Small business applications addressing experimental therapy for neoplastic diseases in in vitro and in vivo model systems may be reviewed in the CDPT Branch, while applications examining immune cell imbalances or tolerance in transplant models may be reviewed here.

There are shared interests with Anti-Infective Therapeutics [DCAI (12)] in the development of immunotherapies for infectious diseases. Small business applications where the emphasis is on late-stage immunotherapeutic development, such as evaluating efficacy or optimizing production, may be reviewed in DCAI (12), whereas early-stage applications where the emphasis is on basic immunology or conceptual design may be reviewed here.