Immunological heterogeneity across populations worldwide cannot be accounted for by genetic differences only. It is increasingly clear that environmental factors such as exposure to microorganisms and parasites as well as nutrient intake can underlie variation seen in the immune profiles and function. Immune hypo-responsiveness can manifest as reduced vaccine performance, which has been seen in rural areas of low to middle income countries.
Through the analysis of the immune system where helminth infections and malaria are endemic or are experimentally given to volunteers, it has been possible to show how the immune system is strongly modulated by parasites. However, it has also become clear that there are additional exposures, that shape the immune system. Peripheral blood as well as tonsil organoids are the sources of samples that are used to study the profile of immune system and response to vaccines.
Our questions to fully understand immune hypo-responsiveness:
- What are the characteristics of the immune cells that are responsible for immune and vaccine hypo-responsiveness?
- Which factors underlie poor immunological responses?
Our approaches:
- Sustainable equal partnership with institutions in different geographical areas in the world through establishment of knowledge hubs (hypovax.org).
- Cohorts residing in different geographical areas that include rural and urban settings as well as controlled human infection models.
- Single cell technologies that provide in depth characterization of the immunological profile and function.
- Data science that can support the generation of federated human immunological data.
