April 16, 2025
WaNPRC Director Deborah Fuller hosts BRAD webinar Thursday April 17th
Unlocking Prevention: How Vaccine Research in Animals Saves People and Their Pets
Thursday, April 17th, 9-10am pst
Presenter: Deborah Fuller, PhD. Professor, Department of Microbiology – The University of Washington School of Medicine Director – Washington National Primate Research Center
Imagine a world without vaccines—no protection from polio, no flu shots to prevent seasonal outbreaks, and no defense against emerging diseases like COVID-19. Vaccines have saved millions of lives and were made possible only through vital animal research. This talk will focus on how animals, including rodents and nonhuman primates, are essential to our goal to develop new vaccines that can prevent future epidemics and pandemics caused by coronaviruses, influenza and other infectious diseases. We will also talk about the emergence of Valley Fever, a serious fungal disease that is rapidly spreading due to climate change and how one small colony of nonhuman primates in the Southwest United States may hold the key to developing a vaccine that can protect humans and their pets. These studies highlight the critical role of animals in vaccine development.
