We have all been through a harrowing year. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic affected us, our loved ones, and communities across the globe. Fortunately, innovative approaches and technologies were ripe and poised to contribute to a robust response against this menace. This special supplement of Clinical Infectious Diseases, entitled “Precision Vaccines: Lessons Learned From the Coronavirus Pandemic,” highlights investigators who presented at the Third Biennial International Precision Vaccines Conference (IPVC; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 22–23 September 2021).
Addressing the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has underscored the importance of precision vaccinology—that is, the application of precision medicine principles to vaccine discovery, development, and implementation. Speakers at IPVC 2021 discussed key principles of precision vaccinology that have come into clear focus during the pandemic, including that demographic factors such as age, sex, geographic location, and individual immune status affect (1) susceptibility to and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); (2) safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines; (3) access to COVID-19 vaccines; (4) vaccine attitudes; and (5) susceptibility to other sequelae of the pandemic, including opioid use disorder. We take the opportunity to thank the Organizing Committee and our Sponsors for their generous efforts in bringing together such a diverse and expert group of investigators.
We invite you to read this article collection from the Third IPVC and encourage the interested reader to contact our supplement authors and connect with the Precision Vaccines Program by joining our collaborative Precision Vaccines Network (email: precisionvaccinesprogram@childrens.harvard.edu) as we partner to advance precision vaccinology to address current and future public health challenges.
Contributor Information
Asimenia Angelidou, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Neonatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jay Evans, Center for Translational Medicine, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
Olubukola Idoko, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; The Vaccine Centre, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
Ofer Levy, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Nicole Pignatiello Lewis, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Etsuro Nanishi, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Oludare A Odumade, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Medical Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Al Ozonoff, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Stanley Plotkin, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Doylestown, PA, USA.
Amy C Sherman, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Simon D van Haren, Precision Vaccines Program, Division of Infectious Diseases, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Elissa R Weitzman, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Computational Health Informatics Program, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Note
Supplement sponsorship. This supplement is sponsored by the Precision Vaccines Program of Boston Children's Hospital.
All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.