Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Initiative (IVRI)
March 7th, 2016
The CRL and CEND (The Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases) are joining forces to help launch a new campus initiative.
The new initiative is called the Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Initiative or IVRI, and is being launched officially on March 24-25, 2016 to coincide with a Symposium on Immunotherapy on the UC Berkeley campus.
About Immunotherapy and IVRI:
The immune system is nature’s most powerful weapon against disease. Whether introduced to the host from the environment, arising endogenously, or stemming from a dysfunction of the immune system itself, diseases are impacted by immune functions and the immune response can be targeted for therapy. It is our vision that a fundamental scientific understanding of immune recognition, cellular interactions, and the biochemical tools and signaling pathways of the immune system has the potential to unleash myriad methods for exquisite targeting and effective control of many human diseases.
The IVRI is envisioned as a center for basic research in immunology, pathogenesis, and vaccinology with the potential to profoundly impact the treatment of human disease. The initiative is founded on the principle that mechanistic research investigating the role of the immune system in infectious disease yields new approaches for treating cancer, and conversely, that studies of cancer immunology yield approaches for vaccines and therapies targeting infectious disease. The IVRI will direct and concentrate UCB researchers, their collaborators, and sponsors towards the shared goal of making ground-breaking discoveries, and furthering these discoveries to develop applications in disease prophylaxis and treatment. IVRI will facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers, streamline access to scientific and financial resources, and promote not only the vision, ideas, accomplishments of its scientists, but also the translation of these ideas and findings for the development of new therapies for human diseases. By targeting synergies in the expertise and capabilities of its scientists, and unifying their ingenuity with the objectives of its sponsors, the IVRI seeks to maximize the potential of its UCB researchers and accelerate the pace of discovery and translation.
