Nanovax 2024- A Recap

The core principle of Nanovax 2024 lies in its mission to bridge the gap between cutting-edge nanovaccine and nanomedicine research and deployment within a Systems Framework. In the wake of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the interconnectedness of human health and ecological systems has been laid bare, underscoring the urgent need for holistic approaches to combat emerging diseases.

At the heart of the conference lies a commitment to fostering communication, coordination, and collaboration across disciplines, paving the way for equitable health solutions that traverse the entire spectrum of development—from foundational research to formulation, testing, manufacturing, and regulatory protocols. By embracing this multifaceted approach, the annual Nanovax conference endeavors to propel the field forward, ensuring that next-generation vaccines and therapeutics are not only effective but also responsive to the complex socio-ecological systems in which they operate.

During the three-day program in May, we had 117 students, researchers, and industry experts from public colleges and universities, pharmaceutical and engineering industries, and federal agencies attend. Two countries were represented by registrants. Attendees who were from the US represented nine states throughout the country.

“We are at a pivotal point in advancing nanoparticle-based vaccines and immunotherapies,” says Dr. Balaji Narasimhan, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor & Vlasta Klima Balloun Faculty Chair in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Director of the Nanovaccine Institute at Iowa State University. “The research and collaborative atmosphere at Nanovax 2024 lead me to believe that these technologies are on a fast track to revolutionizing global healthcare within the next decade.”

Twenty-seven students presented research posters from the University of Iowa, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the University of Texas-Austin, and Iowa State University. The program featured a half-day workshop, three keynote presentations, 15 program presentations, laboratory tours, and two networking receptions.

The thematic tracks emphasized in the 2024 program focused on human health, animal health, and vaccine manufacturing, distribution, deployment and regulation. Researchers in attendance covered a vast array of research areas. Regardless, there was an added benefit in the program for attendees to understand research problems through a new thematic lens that may not be their area of focus.“

I really enjoyed the keynote talks that focused on the COVID-19 vaccines from Raches Ella of Bharat Biotech, and Brenda Carrillo-Conde of Pfizer,” says Kate Fonder, graduate student in the Department of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology at Iowa State University. “Vaccine research and development is outside of my research focus, so it was fascinating to hear about what all goes into developing a vaccine and especially how their companies were able to produce the vaccines so quickly.”

From immunology, epidemiology, chemical/biological engineering, and public health perspectives, it is critical to understand the animal-human disease connection. In these efforts, it is critical to map key structural changes in disease mutation, understand the legacy of disease within animals and people, to detect patterns and make further predictions of disease and its affinity to specific animal or human protein, and enable a rapid vaccine production and distribution response to disease outbreaks. Nanoparticle-based vaccine interventions and biosecurity governance enables global food security and healthy immune systems, which results in resilient human systems and ecosystems. We look forward to expanding these topic areas for next year’s Nanovax to be held in Spring 2025.?

We especially want to thank our 2024 Scientific Planning Committee who comprised of a transdisciplinary group of researchers who are experts in the design and manufacturing of nanovaccines and nanomedicines.

2024 Scientific Program Committee?

• Mark A. Arnold, Edwin B. Green Professor in Laser Chemistry; Director, Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing, University of Iowa
• Bailey Arruda, Research Veterinary Medical Officer, Veterinary Medical Science, USDA National Animal Disease Center
• Anne Bronikowski, Professor and Resident Faculty Member, Integrated Biology, Michigan State University
• Ken Carson, Lead Scientist, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Department, Southwest Research Institute
• Maneesh Jain, Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Sean Kelly, Research and Development Engineer III, Nanovaccine Institute, Iowa State University
• Kevin Legge, Professor of Pathology, Department of Pathology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Director, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology, University of Iowa
• Jodi McGill, Associate Professor, Veterinary Microbiology & Preventive Medicine; Assistant Dean of Research and Graduate Studies, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University
• Balaji Narasimhan, Director, Nanovaccine Institute; Anson Marston Distinguished Professor & Vlasta Klima Balloun Faculty Chair; Chemical & Biological Engineering, Iowa State University
• Inna Ovsyannikova, Director of Laboratory Studies, Vaccine Research Group; Professor of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic
• Mike Roof, Chief Technology Officer, Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics bioscience platform, Office of the Vice President for Research, Iowa State University
• Kathleen Ross, Core Facility Manager and Research and Development Engineer III, Nanovaccine Institute, Iowa State University
• Timothy Sullivan, CEO, Zeteo Biomedical LLC
• Michael Wannemuehler, Associate Director, Nanovaccine Institute; Professor, Veterinary Microbiology & Preventive Medicine, Iowa State University

We are additionally grateful to event sponsors whose support made the event accessible to attendees who traveled from across the US and around the world to participate in the program. This event is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, AFRI project 2023-12077. Support for the event also came from the Vaccines, Diagnostics, & Immunotherapeutics Bioscience Platform, a partnership between Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and BioConnect Iowa. Lastly, this event was hosted and supported by the Nanovaccine Institute at Iowa State University.

Written by Hanna Bates, Research Administrator III, Nanovaccine Institute