Applied Immunology, Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Technology

This module reviews key aspects of the adaptive and innate immune responses. It addresses the response elicited following challenge with antigenic molecules (naturally & artificially) and the key cells and molecules involved. It describes the specific structure of immunoglobulins and their structure function relationships. The development of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies is discussed along with the manipulation and engineering of antibodies as biotherapeutic agents. The various traditional and modern approaches to the development of vaccines are evaluated.  Case studies are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of vaccines in treating infectious disease.

1. Evaluate the respective roles of both the innate and adaptive immune responses in vivo and critically evaluate the exploitation of the adaptive immune response to produce antibodies.

2. Give a detailed description of antibody structure, analyse the structure/function relationship and discuss key modifications that affect immunogenicity, affinity and potency of antibodies as therapeutic molecules. 

3. Develop a strategy and design an experimental approach to produce and characterise a polyclonal antibody.  

4. Analyse the development of monoclonal antibodies from murine to humanised molecules, crtically evaluate their effectiveness as therapeutic agents and effectiveness of more advanced formats including bispecifics and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells

5. Articulate a clear understanding of the mechanisms underlying passive and active vaccination, critically evaluate the effectiveness of both traditional and modern vaccines, respectively, and discuss the challenges posed in the development and production of new vaccines.