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Two major roadblocks can be identified that have hindered efforts to be better prepared for the next pandemic of influenza. First, current vaccines do not provide durable and broadly cross protective immunity, precluding effective stockpiling and requiring yearly vaccination. Second, although the role of avian influenza viruses in the generation of new pandemics has been clearly described, the exact features that control species specificity are poorly understood, significantly hampering our ability to predict pandemics. The New York Influenza Center of Excellence (NYICE) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach involving investigators in the fields of immunology, virology, biochemistry, medicine, pediatrics, statistics and bioinformatics that will address directly the issues of cross-protective immunity and virus adaptation to the mammalian host. Our goal is to provide a truly transforming approach to influenza research.

Environment for Influenza Research

Research on the immunology and pathogenesis of influenza at NYICE will take place in a rich environment of highly collaborative center grants that are devoted in large measure to influenza vaccine development, immune response, pathogenesis, and epidemiology. Importantly, each of these programs has a clear focus on influenza in humans, and each will provide synergistic contributions to the research program we will carry forward in NYICE.

In addition to influenza research, the medical center also excels in other respiratory viruses research.

NYICE is Directed by Drs. John Treanor and David Topham.

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