ID Research Opportunities

Basic and Translational Research

Basic scientific research, vaccine development and virology focuses within the Division are:

• Bacterial meningitis
• Biodefense
• Francisella
• HIV immunology
• Hepatitis C virus
• Malaria
• Neisseria and Haemophilus
• Tuberculosis

The pathogenesis group works closely with the other investigators in the Emory Department of Microbiology and Immunology and investigators at the CDC who focus on microbial pathogenesis.  The Division participates in graduate programs and research in microbiology and molecular genetics, immunology and molecular pathogesis, and population biology, ecology, and evolution.  Additional opportunities are available for basic research in toxin medicate infections, intracellular pathogens, influenza, hemorrhagic fever viruses, zoonotic pathogens, parasites and fungi.

The Emory Vaccine Center

The Emory Vaccine Center is the focus of research in immunology and vaccines within Emory University School of Medicine, the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, the Rollins School of Public Health, and the Emory Center for AIDS Research. Created in 1995, the Vaccine Center includes a renowned group of immunologists and virologists and one of the largest concentrations of investigators in an academic medical center working on vaccine development.   

The center, which is funded by external funding including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Georgia Research Alliance, is housed within a three-story, 75,000-square-foot building that includes the Yerkes Division of Micobiology and Immunology. The Vaccine Center facilities include 26 research laboratories, where scientists are working to develop vaccines for HIV, malaria, and other emerging infectious diseases.

The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center

The Hope Clinic is a one-of-a-kind entity that supports the following objectives:

• Facilitating clinical evaluation of vaccines
• Facilitating studies of immune function in humans
• Studying the relationship between infectious agents and the immune system
• Fostering relationships with communities at risk for contracting diseases such as AIDS
• Characterizing the diverse factors that affect the willingness of individuals at risk for HIV infection to participate in HIV vaccine clinical trials.

The Hope Clinic offers an innovative, community based, and scientifically grounded clinical trials program to address the need for safe and effective vaccines to prevent major global infectious diseases. Volunteers can participate in a variety of research studies to help understand the human immune system, find a safe and effective vaccine for HIV/AIDS, and prevent other important infectious diseases.

The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center is one of the vaccine clinical trial sites of the Emory School of Medicine. We work closely with the Emory Center for AIDS Research and other local and national research organizations to understand immune system responses to vaccines and to help bring safe and effective vaccines into clinical practice.
We create a bridge between laboratory investigation and society, in which basic science is linked to community concerns. The clinic is recognized for its excellent, innovative prevention studies, its high impact public health agenda, and its active strategic partnerships and service to the community.

EITRP: HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
Emory International Training and Research Program

The Emory AIDS International Training and Research Program and Emory-Georgia Tuberculosis Research and Training Program, supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health, provide interdisciplinary training and research opportunities in HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

The training programs provide researchers from participating countries with the training in research and program implementation necessary to make significant contributions to HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis prevention, care, and research upon their return home.

AIDS International Training and Research

Located in Atlanta, and funded by the NIH since 1998 the Emory AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) has established itself as a training environment that is producing highly qualified HIV/AIDS researchers who are already making important contributions to HIV prevention and treatment efforts in their home countries.  The governance and operation of the Emory AITRP fosters interdisciplinary cross-training to ensure that our trainees benefit from a mixture of public health, basic, clinical, and behavioral/social science training relevant to HIV/AIDS research and prevention.  Our collaborating countries include: Armenia, Georgia, Ethiopia, Mexico, Rwanda, Vietnam and Zambia.

To accomplish our mission, we have developed strong collaborations with other federally funded agencies and programs, including Emory's Center for AIDS Research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Emory's MSCR program.
The core training faculty includes researchers from:

• Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University
• Emory University School of Medicine
• Yerkes National Primate Research Center
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Atlanta-based researchers work collaboratively with the faculty and staff from:

• The National Institute of Public Health in Mexico (www.insp.mx)
• The Georgian AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Center (http://aids.gol.ge/)
• The Global AIDS Program in Vietnam (http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/gap)
• The National Center for AIDS Prevention in Armenia (www.armaids.am)
• Addis Ababa University (www.aau.edu.et) and the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute
• The National HIV/AIDS/STD/TB Council in Zambia

The Emory AITRP is administered as an international component of the Emory/Atlanta Center for AIDS Research (Emory CFAR), which is housed in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Susan Allen, MD, MPH, is the Director for Zambia and Rwanda of the Emory AITRP.

Specific aims of the Emory AITRP include:

• Providing long, medium, short term, and in-country training and research opportunities in HIV/AIDS to a diverse group of outstanding young researchers
• Providing collaborative training and research among Emory, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and investigators in Armenia, Georgia, Mexico, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Zambia on HIV prevention and care.
• Providing interdisciplinary cross-training, by offering short-term training programs
• Building in-country research capacity by conducting and supporting a variety of in-country training activities.

The Emory CFAR

HISTORY OF AIDS RESEARCH AT EMORY

In 1997, the year that the Emory CFAR was first organized with institutional funding, physicians and scientists at Emory who were committed to AIDS research were isolated in pockets of scientific excellence scattered throughout the campus. Over the next several years, CFAR worked to facilitate increased integration of HIV /AIDS research on campus, encourage widespread recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary research, assist in the strategic recruitment of needed junior and senior faculty to fill critical gaps in Emory's growing HIV/AIDS research program, and help Emory faculty members get their first NIH funding in HIV/AIDS.
Less than ten years later, AIDS research at Emory has greatly matured. Total HIV/AIDS funding at Emory has increased nearly three-fold from $23 million in 1996 to $59 million in 2005 and the University's AIDS research program now encompasses the full translational pipeline from concept to bench to bedside to community in the domains of vaccines, drug discovery, and behavioral interventions.

The Emory CFAR supports the Administrative and Developmental cores along with five science cores; Biostatistics, Social and Behavioral Science, Clinical Research, Immunology, and Virology & Drug Discovery. Each of the cores provide critical and otherwise difficult to obtain services needed to advance one or more of the HIV/AIDS research domains.

Administrative Core

Co-Director - James Curran, MD, MPH
Co-Director - Carlos del Rio, MD
Co-Director - Eric Hunter, PhD

The principal activities of the Administrative Core are the selection, funding, and evaluation of basic, clinical, and developmental cores. The core provides leadership for the annual strategic planning process, recruitment and development of new investigators, and the establishment of international and inter-Institutional HIV research collaborations. In addition, the core hosts a variety of community educational, and skills building opportunities for CFAR scientists and the community. The Administrative Core is located at the Rollins School of Public Health.

Clinical Research Core

Co-Director - Jeff Lennox, MD
Co-Director - Mark Mulligan, MD

The Clinical Research Core works to facilitate the design and implementation of clinical research studies that improve knowledge about, prevention of and treatment for, HIV infection in humans. The core enhances clinical research activities of investigators by providing appropriate expertise, facilities, and personnel. The core also provides access to clinical databases at Emory affiliated HIV care clinics and trainings in clinical trails methodologies. The Clinical Research Core has sites at the Ponce de Leon Health Center, the Hope Clinic, Crawford W. Long Hospital, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Immunology Core

Director - John Altman, PhD
Associate Director - Chris Ibegbu, PhD

The mission of the Immunology Core is to provide the Emory community with the highest quality assessments of immunological function necessary for the study of the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of immunodeficiency virus infections in humans and non-human primates. The core services include; assays of cellular immune function, flow cytometry services, and immunological assay education and training opportunities. The Immunology Core is located at the Emory Vaccine Center.

Virology & Drug Discovery Core

Co-Director - Angela Caliendo, MD, PhD
Co-Director - Raymond Schinazi, PhD
Co-Director - David Garber, PhD

The goal of the Virology & Drug Discovery Core is to provide enabling, laboratory-based approaches to promote interdisciplinary and translational research. The services provided to investigators include safe biosafety level 2/3 laboratories, contemporary molecular virologic methods, and state-of-the-art drug assays to enable research on HIV prevention, treatment and pathogenesis. The core is composed of a drug discovery lab located at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, a clinical virology lab located in the Whitehead Building, and a pre-clinical virology lab located at the Emory Vaccine Center.

The Emory HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Unit

Jeffrey Lennox, MD – Principal Investigator

CTU – Administrative Core – Ponce de Leon Center

ACTG – AIDS Clinical Trial Group – Ponce de Leon Center – Performs clinical research trial

HCTU – Clinical Research Site – Hope Clinic – Performs vaccines trials
Mark Mulligan, MD, Sri Edupuganti, MD, Carlos del Rio, MD

Clinical Education

Clinical Excellence

James Steinberg, MD – Chief Medical Officer for Emory Crawford Long Hospital

Nimalie Stone, MD – Director of Antimicrobial Infections and Hospital Epidemiologist                               for Wesley Woods Hospital