Phoenix IMPAc-TB

The Immune Mechanisms of Protection Against Mycobacterium tuberculosis Centers (IMPAc-TB) program is an initiative established by NIAID in 2019 to elucidate the immune responses needed to protect against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). The program will lead to a better understanding of tuberculosis (TB) immunology, which is critical to guide the design and development of new and improved TB vaccines, and it aligns with the goals of the NIAID Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Research (see a PDF of the full strategic plan).

Under this initiative, two of the three IMPAc-TB contracts were awarded to principal investigators at Seattle Children’s Research Institute:

Rhea Coler, MSc, PhD, Seattle Children’s Research Institute: Coler Lab
Kevin Urdahl, MD, PhD, Seattle Children’s Research Institute: Urdahl Lab
Sarah Fortune, M.D., Henry Boom, M.D., JoAnne Flynn, Ph.D.

Phoenix IMPAc-TB Contract Under Dr. Rhea Coler

The goal of the Phoenix IMPAc-TB project is to comprehensively identify the complex immune responses required to prevent M.tb infection or active TB disease by comparing and interrogating the mycobacteria- and vaccine-induced protective immunity in several animal species and in man.

The overarching paradigm of this project is that identification and validation of common protective correlates of immunity against M.tb (a NIAID Category C pathogen) in escalating preclinical animal models of TB, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) exposure, and human challenge experimental medicine clinical studies, will be crucial in the rational design and development of candidate vaccines that generate robust levels of durable, protective immunity against TB. We have assembled a team of researchers from eight academic or translational institutions who are leaders in various fields, including preclinical animal models of TB, human challenge models, clinical and systems immunology, genomics, microbiology, statistical and bioinformatics methodology, nanoparticle formulation, cGMP manufacturing through fill and finish, regulatory, quality control, clinical trials, and development of linked platform technologies and immunology assessments.