Arulanandam is an immunologist at the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Jane and Roland Blumberg Professor in Biology and the vice president for research, economic development, and knowledge enterprise at UTSA.
DECEMBER 16, 2020 — As a COVID-19 vaccine is being rolled out, we should all have a greater appreciation of immunological memory, the primary rationale for the development of vaccines against infectious microbes. The basis for immunological memory can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and the plague of that time, when survivors of the infection did not experience the disease again and were often called upon to nurse the afflicted individuals.
This early observation led to the concept of inoculation or variolation, which became a common practice in certain parts of the world and was introduced to Europe around the 18th century through the Royal Society. Lady Mary Wortley Montague was responsible for leading variolation in England where in 1722 the daughters of the Prince of Wales were inoculated.
Just a year prior, in 1721, the practice of variolation had reached the colonies when inoculation against smallpox was championed by the Rev. Cotton Mather and Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, a great uncle of President John Adams.
In 1796 country doctor Edward Jenner made a seminal observation that dairymaids who were exposed to cowpox never came down with smallpox. This observation led to the concept of vaccination, and these findings were published in 1798.
In 1840 vaccination replaced the practice of variolation, and in 1977 the World Health Organization led a global effort to successfully eradicate smallpox. A similar worldwide immunization effort with two different vaccine platforms (akin to the different COVID vaccines) led to the suppression of polio in the 1960s. Similar successes around the world are evident by several efforts, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which provides critical childhood vaccines in the world’s poorest countries and prevents millions of deaths.
Immunologic memory and specificity are important characteristics of learned or adaptive immunity, where the immune system remembers antigens from past exposure and launches a robust immune response when the same antigen is seen again. These features of the immune system are intrinsic in humans and form the basis for the development of vaccines against microbes that have historically caused epidemics and transformed society.
The pressing need for further investments in infectious disease research is evident by the ease of global travel, the rise of world population, human behavior, and changes to climatic patterns with spread of insect vectors that have impacted microbial ecology and transmission patterns of infectious microorganisms.
The current pandemic has amplified the power of international coordination and cooperation. The genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, was published in early January 2020. This catalyzed research and development into the generation of promising vaccines for mass production in under a year.
Such innovation will further spur opportunities in the design of next-generation vaccine platforms for evolving future major public health concerns that will be at the forefront of public attention and collaborative private-government action.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Covidence is a systematic & scoping review tool used to streamline the process of screening and reviewing articles. Using this software, research teams can easily import studies, perform automatic deduplication, and extract data using templates. This workshop will show attendees how to start a review in Covidence, add collaborators, and get started on screening.
Virtual (Zoom)In this workshop, attendees will be introduced to Pandas, a Python tool for working with data easily. It makes it simple to organize and analyze information when data is organized and categorized, like spreadsheets or tables.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryEach fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
AlamodomeThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
