Vaccine Day 2008

On September 19th, 2008, the Johns Hopkins Vaccine Initiative (JHVI) hosted the first annual Vaccine Day at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.  Festivities began at 12:30 in Sommer Hall with a keynote address by David Heymann, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security and the Environment, and Representative of the Director-General for Polio Eradication. Dr. Heymann's talk was entitled: “Diplomacy: Improving Global Access to Vaccines and Good Health”.

Dr. Heymann was presented with the Dean’s Medal and Dean Michael Klag officially launched the JHVI.  Ruth Karron, JHVI director, discussed the impetus for the JHVI: to promote and encourage current vaccine research programs at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, as well as identify new opportunities in vaccine research and policy development that require a coordinated multidisciplinary approach.  Several representative faculty members briefly presented an overview of vaccine-related research being conducted in Preclinical Vaccine Development (Diane Griffin), Phase I/II Clinical Trials (Anna Durbin), Field Trials (Katherine O’Brien), Vaccine Implementation, Finance, and Access (Orin Levine, former faculty), Vaccine Safety (Neal Halsey) and Vaccine Ethics (Ruth Faden).

Vaccine Day ended with a poster session and refreshments in Feinstone Hall.  Almost 50 posters from faculty, staff and students were displayed, showcasing their vaccine research.

To watch a video of David Heymann's keynote address, click here.