Speakers
John D. Clements, PhD
Dr. John Clements is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine. After receiving his doctorate in 1979 from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, Dr. Clements completed a National Research Council Associateship at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, DC. In 1980, Dr. Clements was appointed as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Microbiology and Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, NY. In 1982, Dr. Clements joined the faculty at Tulane University. Dr. Clements has served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology since 1999 and in 2006 was appointed as Vice Dean for Research. Dr. Clements’s research programs focus on development of vaccines against infectious diseases. He was the first to successfully purify and characterize the cholera-like, heat-labile enterotoxin of E. coli, a leading cause of childhood diarrheal disease world-wide. His laboratory has extensively studied the use of attenuated bacteria as vaccine delivery systems and was among the first to employ this technology with recombinant antigens. He has developed novel adjuvants that enhance the immune response to foreign antigens delivered to mucosal or dermal surfaces. These adjuvants have been carried through human trials and commercial licensing. Dr. Clements was also part of a team of investigators to conduct the first human trials demonstrating the practical use of edible foods as vaccines delivery systems. Each of these strategies is based upon the principal that vaccines must be both effective and affordable to be practical. Dr. Clements’ research has been continuously funded from a variety of Public Health Service, Department of Defense, and pharmaceutical sources. He is currently the Principal Investigator on two NIH grants (Novel adjuvants for biodefense vaccines and Nanocarriers for transcutaneous delivery of vaccines), and is Director of the Tulane/Xavier Vaccine Development/Engineering Project supported by the Department of Defense. Dr. Clements is also Co-Director of the South Louisiana Institute for Infectious Disease Research and the Louisiana Vaccine Center, both collaborative projects between Tulane University and Louisiana State University Health sciences Center in New Orleans. Research in Dr. Clements’s laboratory has resulted in more than 100 peer reviewed publications and book chapters, thirteen issued patents, and training opportunities for graduate students, medical students, post-Doctoral fellows and clinical fellows.
Dr. Clements has served on numerous scientific panels and Editorial Boards and was an Editor for Infection and Immunity from 1999 – 2005. He currently serves on the Defense Health Board (formerly the Armed Forces Epidemiology Board) and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Western Regional Center for Excellence in Biodefense Research and the PATH Enteric Vaccine initiative. In 2003, Dr. Clements was trained as a U.N. Weapons Inspector (Biologic) in the 7th United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) training program in Vienna. From August - December 2003 and August – September 2004, Dr. Clements was a member of the Iraq Survey Group in Baghdad as a Subject Matter Expert in Weapons of Mass Destruction and dual use equipment and programs.
Nanocarrier-based Vaccine Delivery
This presentation will discuss transdermal vaccine delivery (TVD), a non-invasive, safe method of administering vaccines directly onto bare skin, offering a number of potential advantages over traditional needle-delivery. This technology is limited by the relative inefficiency of transport of large molecular weight vaccine antigens across intact skin. Recent evidence has shown that this barrier can be overcome by properly structured nano-sized particles (nanocarriers). The specialized assembly of each type of nanocarrier gives each unique properties and different interactions within the lipid channels of the outermost level of the skin, the stratum corneum. TVD is also limited by the availability of safe, effective adjuvants that can facilitate the immune response to vaccines delivered by this route. One class of ADP-ribosylating adjuvants has been shown to be safe and effective when administered transdermally and is capable of inducing both humoral and cellular immune responses to co-administered antigens.