Next generation of human vaccines: what does the future hold?

The World Vaccine Congress was held in Arlington, VA April 21st-24th, 2008. Tevi Troy, the deputy secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, set the tone of the meeting during his keynote address. He discussed the government's plan to deliver a strategic outlook and follow a road map for vaccine development. He also emphasized the importance of ongoing cooperation between industry and the government's many departments. In an electrifying keynote address Gregory Poland, Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN discussed the role of recent advancements in the fields of Immunology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics and the completion of the Human Genome Project. Poland described the recent emergence of the field of Vaccinomics and laid out his vision for an era of personalized medicine. Next-generation vaccine approaches targeting cervical cancer, meningitis, childhood diarrhea and renal cell carcinoma were presented by leaders in the field. Preclinical and early-stage clinical successes of vaccines against Malaria, TB and Ebola were discussed along with a road map for HIV, TB and Malaria vaccine development. The importance of collaborations among government departments, academic institutions, industries and philanthropic foundations was a common theme stressed throughout the conference.