UBC Systems Vaccinology Group

Vaccines have been the most successful medical intervention in human history. Multi-billion dollar efforts are under way to make vaccines that protect against more and more diseases, like HIV, malaria, cancer and even Alzheimers disease. We have yet to make these vaccines largely due to the fact that we know vaccines work, but we do not truly understand how vaccines work at a molecular level.

What is systems vaccinology?
Systems vaccinology can be thought of as a set of tools that looks at "why" and "how" vaccines induce protection (an immune response) in the host. Systems vaccinology takes a biological approach to capture the host response to vaccination in a very detailed way. This knowledge will enable us to develop successful vaccines against major infections and cancers.

What is the UBC Systems Vaccinology Group?
Researchers across UBC, including three researchers at the Vaccine Evaluation Center (Drs. Kollmann, Sadarangani, Gantt), are combining their expertise to use the systems vaccinology approach to study vaccine-induced immunity in great detail. Multiple global experts, based at UBC, are joining the UBC Systems Vaccinology platform to lead the world in vaccinology.

Who are the UBC Systems Vaccinology researchers?

Dr. Robert Hancock, OC, OBC, FRSC
Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia

Dr. Leonard Foster, PhD
Professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia

Dr. Michael Kobor, PhD
Professor, UBC Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia

Dr. William Mohn, PhD
Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia

Dr. Tobias Kollmann, MD, PhD
Professor, Division of Infectious and Immunological Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia

Dr. Ryan Brinkman, PhD
Professor, Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia

Dr. Soren Gantt, MD, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia

Dr. Manish Sadarangani,BM, BCh, MRCPCH, DPhil
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia

Dr. Scott Tebbutt, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, University of British Columbia

Recent Projects:

Human Vaccines Project

Human Immunology Project Consortium