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Project

The optimal timing of vaccination in pregnancy: a multi-dimensional mechanistic approach to measure immune responses in pregnant women.

In view of its effectiveness to protect infants against several infectious diseases from immediately after birth, maternal immunization has gained interest in the last years. Yet, the optimal development of this vaccination strategy is still limited by the relatively poor understanding of the immunobiology of vaccine responses in pregnancy. Dynamic changes in immune function occur throughout the gestation which can impact vaccine responses in pregnant women when vaccinating at a different gestational age in pregnancy. Within this proposal, the effect of a different timing of vaccination in pregnancy on the cellular and on different aspects of the antibody-dependent immunity (titers, subclass, functionality, glycosylation) in blood will be studied. Also, the influence of this timing on the molecular basis of maternal antibody transfer across the placenta will be investigated. Additionally, a proof of concept investigating the impact of maternal vaccination and timing of maternal vaccination on breastmilk will be constructed. Within this proof of concept, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of breastmilk antibodies will be measured and an in-vitro M-cell model to measure the role of breastmilk in protecting infants from disease will be validated. Within this project, we will focus on pertussis as an example, but outcomes of this project can be applied to other infectious diseases for which vaccines can be administered in pregnancy like GBS, RSV, CMV, SARS-CoV-2…
Date:1 Jan 2021 →  Today
Keywords:VACCINATION, PREGNANCY
Disciplines:Vaccinology, Preventive medicine
Project type:Collaboration project