SLU Researchers Enroll Participants in 2-in-1 COVID and Flu Vaccine Clinical Trial
ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis University’s Center for Vaccine Development is participating in a clinical study for an investigational vaccine being developed against influenza and COVID developed by Pfizer, which is funding this research.
While there are licensed vaccines and treatments for both influenza and COVID, the current vaccines have been given as separate shots. This study looks at whether both vaccines can be combined into one shot without affecting the antibody response to either vaccine.
Sarah George, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at SLU School of Medicine and a researcher in SLU’s Vaccine Center. SLU file photo.
Sarah George, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at SLU School of Medicine and a researcher in SLU’s Vaccine Center, will assist in studying whether the combined vaccine induces the body to make antibodies to both influenza and COVID, compared with giving both vaccines separately.
“Since it looks like COVID will be with us for the long haul, just as flu is, it’s important to see if we can combine both vaccines into one shot without compromising immunity of both,” George said. “It’s vital that we continue to work to develop combined vaccines that can protect all of us, especially the vulnerable, from these illnesses.”
The phase 3 clinical trial is being conducted at over 200 sites in the United States, including Saint Louis University. SLU researchers are recruiting around 150 healthy adults 18 through 64 years of age who have not had a flu or COVID vaccine in the past 6 months. Overall, the study will recruit 9,000 volunteers and will last about a year. Each volunteer will have 3 study visits.
To learn more about vaccine research being conducted at Saint Louis University, call 314-977-6333 or email vaccine@slu.edu. For more information on this study, please visit the ClinicalTrials.gov website link here.
Latest Newslink
- U.S. Coast Guard Honors SLU Emergency Management InstructorsTwo faculty members in Saint Louis University’s School for Professional Studies are being honored for their work in emergency management. Shawn Steadman, director of the emergency management program, and Jesse A. Scott, Ph.D., instructor in emergency management, were honored Thursday, May 2, at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Capt. Niels P. Thomsen Innovation Awards.
- Saint Louis University Museum of Art to Present What Is Christ, a Limited Exhibition Exploring Ignatian SpiritualityThe Saint Louis University Museum of Art (SLUMA) will present a new, limited exhibition by Nick Leeper, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic and graduate student in philosophy at Saint Louis University. "What Is Christ," a collection of Leeper's paintings and sculptures, opens Friday, May 3, and will run through May 26.
- SLU's Sarah Adam Becomes First Woman Named to US Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby TeamSarah Adam, OTD, assistant professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University, is one of 12 athletes who will represent the U.S. at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8.
- Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: SLU to Host Be Heard! Women in Leadership ConferenceSaint Louis University’s Emerson Leadership Institute will host its third annual Be Heard! Women in Leadership conference on Friday, May 3. The free event, “Breaking and Powering Through the Bamboo Ceiling,” will kick off Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The half-day event will focus on cultural differences, the history of stereotyping, unconscious bias, and the myth of the model minority.
- Saint Louis University Researchers Identify a Biomarker for Severe Liver Disease in InfantsIn a new study, Saint Louis University School of Medicine researchers and colleagues have identified biomarkers in high-risk infants with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD). This is a condition that is life-threatening in some infants but very mild in others. For the first time, predicting which children need lifesaving intervention is possible.
- Jamaica Kincaid Receives the 2024 St. Louis Literary AwardRenowned Antigua-born author Jamaica Kincaid received the 2024 St. Louis Literary Award on Thursday, April 25. In her works, Kincaid explores themes of colonialism, gender and sexuality, racism, class, and familial relationships.