Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Australia sees early rise in flu cases

Australia is gripped with a fourfold increase in the number of people suffering flu. This rise is even before the usual peak season in August and September. Already nearly 8,000 cases have been reported compared with about 2,000 at the same time last year. The increase has disproportionately affected Queensland, NSW and South Australia. In January and February more than 1,700 people were recorded with flu, compared with fewer than 300 the year before.

20 Jul 2011

DNA vaccine developer Coridon in U.S. collaboration

DNA vaccine development company Coridon Pty Ltd. today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with The Ohio State University to progress its Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) project.

19 Jul 2011

Two key genes may help prevent childhood leukemia

Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have identified genes that may be important for preventing childhood leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the blood that occurs primarily in young children.

19 Jul 2011

Novel approach for preventing HIV infection

Scientists at Osel Inc. and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have developed a new way to prevent HIV infection by genetically enhancing the ability of naturally occurring vaginal bacteria to block viral transmission.

19 Jul 2011

Emory-led consortium receives NIH grant to develop effective HIV/AIDS vaccine

A consortium of leading vaccine researchers at Emory University and partner institutions has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant aimed at developing an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine.

19 Jul 2011

Coal seam gas and cancer risk: Report

An Australian Senate committee has been looking into the impact of coal seam gas (CSG) mining on the Murray-Darling Basin that has moved to Dalby on Queensland's western Darling Downs today. The Senate Standing Committee on Rural Affairs and Transport is touring southern Queensland examining the environmental consequences of CSG mining on the Murray-Darling River system.

19 Jul 2011

Peak of Australian flu season is imminent so take the necessary precautions now: Experts

The Influenza Specialist Group (ISG) is today warning that high rates of influenza outbreaks have been confirmed in QLD, SA and NSW, but there is still time for most Australians, especially those in at-risk groups, to protect themselves and those around them.

18 Jul 2011

Measles epidemic grips Kenya and Ethiopia

The UNICEF announced Friday that children in Kenya and Ethiopia are at risk of a measles epidemic. Ethiopia has had more than 17,584 cases of measles in 2011, with 114 deaths. The WHO urges measles vaccination of young children to combat the situation.

18 Jul 2011

LLS awards new SCOR grants valued at $12.5M for research in lymphoma and myeloproliferative neoplasms

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) today announced it has awarded two new Marshall A. Lichtman Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) grants to Frederick W. Alt, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, and Anthony Green, M.D., Ph.D., University of Cambridge. Each SCOR is valued at $1.25 million a year for five years for a total of $6.25 million.

18 Jul 2011

Scientists identify key immune system regulator in white blood cells

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists provide insight into immune system biology and identify the mechanism that keeps white blood cell activity at a minimum until the specific immune response is needed.

18 Jul 2011

Two existing clinical stage clients expand development activities with Progenitor Cell Therapy

Progenitor Cell Therapy (PCT), an internationally recognized cell therapy services and development company, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of NeoStem, Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the U.S. and China, announced today that two existing clinical stage biopharmaceutical corporate clients have chosen to expand their development activities with PCT.

18 Jul 2011

SEEK HIV-v vaccine demonstrates 90% reduction in HIV viral load

SEEK, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company specializing in immunology, announces today that it has completed a Phase Ib/II clinical trial of its HIV-v vaccine which demonstrates a one log (approx 90 percent) difference in viral count in HIV-infected people compared with the placebo group, after just a single vaccine injection.

18 Jul 2011

Autism Speaks honors Scripps Research scientist with Weatherstone Fellowship

Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy group, has awarded a two-year Dennis Weatherstone Pre-Doctoral Fellowship to Kristopher Nazor of The Scripps Research Institute.

16 Jul 2011

Tips for preventing allergy during ragweed pollen season

Feel like there's no end in sight when it comes to fall allergy misery? Blame global warming. Research suggests that with global warming, nasal allergy during the ragweed pollen season - also called hay fever or seasonal allergic rhinitis - lasts up to three weeks longer than it used to, and the further north you live, the longer you have to wait for relief.

16 Jul 2011

Seattle Children's inaugurates new center for cancer research

Today, Seattle Children's Research Institute announced the opening of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research.

15 Jul 2011

Partially hydrolysed whey formula does not prevent allergies in high-risk infants

Despite the formula being recommended in public health guidelines set out by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, the new study, published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, found there was no benefit in using hypoallergenic formula to prevent allergies in high-risk infants up to seven years of age, compared to a conventional cow's milk based formula.

15 Jul 2011

IMM researcher wins prestigious Early Career Bayer Hemophilia Award

Vanessa Oliveira, researcher at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Portugal won a prestigious and competitive Early Career Bayer Hemophilia Award. Oliveira will develop a strategy to reprogramme the immune system of hemophilia patients to avoid immune targeting of the most used clotting therapeutics.

14 Jul 2011

Fish oil consumption helps reduce inflammation, anxiety in healthy young people

A new study gauging the impact of consuming more fish oil showed a marked reduction both in inflammation and, surprisingly, in anxiety among a cohort of healthy young people.

14 Jul 2011

Adamis receives European patent for novel cell-based cancer vaccine technology

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, today announced the technology which constitutes the basis of a novel cell-based cancer vaccine, TeloB-VAX, was recently granted a patent in Europe.

14 Jul 2011

Daily pill ‘combo’ prevents HIV transmission: New African study

According two studies in Africa, taking a daily pill containing either one or two anti-HIV drugs can reduce transmission of the virus by as much as three-quarters among heterosexual couples. This is an encouraging finding that could help focus on AIDS prevention. The results were so compelling that the larger study was halted early and the drugs given to all the participants, researchers said Wednesday.

13 Jul 2011