New Delhi: The Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Millia Islamia(JMI) organized a centenary lecture on ‘Immune memory.  Remembering your infections and vaccines’ on December 4, 2020, by Dr. Rafi Ahmed, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Director, Emory Vaccine Centre, Atlanta, USA, as part of centenary celebrations of the university.

The centenary lecture had lot of focus with over 1200 registration from across the globe including US, Canada, Germany, the UK and other European countries. The lecture was attended by various dignitaries from the science background who took prominent participation during interaction with the speaker.

Dr. Rafi Ahmed emphasized the role of India as international program partner for the design and development of vaccines against diseases like HIV, TB, Malaria and Dengue. He further explained the significance of immunological memory by T cell responses in viral infections. One of their discovery of Programmed Death-1 (PD-1) in T-cell exhaustion in chronic infection is translated into the clinical development of PD-1 directed immunotherapy for the treatment of human chronic infections and various cancer.

He explained the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the various platforms on which vaccines are prepared. He also updated on their clinical phase trials. On the one hand, Pfizer and Moderna has 90 percent efficacy and Oxford/Astrazeneca, the most hyped vaccine, on the other hand has an overall 70 percent efficacy. He also discussed various important issues on vaccine distribution and durability. finally, he addressed the fear of pandemics and fear of vaccines but he asserted that at least 70 percent of the population should undergo vaccination to bring the pandemic under control.

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