VEC Announcements

New animation! How mRNA vaccines work

The Vaccine Education Center is excited to debut a new animation that shows how mRNA vaccines are processed. As viewers watch from inside the cell, they see the release of mRNA from vaccine microcapsules, spike protein production, and cellular processing of the spike protein before traveling with an activated dendritic cell to a nearby lymph node to witness T and B cell activation. As activated B cells produce antibodies, viewers watch the antibodies interfere with viral attachment before being reminded that this process protects them during future encounters with the virus.

The animation is available on the Vaccine Makers Project (VMP) YouTube channel. Feel free to share the link to the animation from your own websites or social media channels if you have had people ask how the mRNA vaccine works.

Subscribe to the VMP YouTube channel to find out when new videos are posted.

Meet our new “Technically Speaking” author

We are excited to announce the new author of the “Technically Speaking” article. Sharon G. Humiston, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy and University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO. Beyond her clinical work, Dr. Humiston’s career has focused on three central aspects of immunization delivery, including research, quality improvement and education. She is a health services researcher with more than 140 peer-reviewed publications on innovative and practical approaches for improving vaccine delivery. Dr. Humiston has been the principal investigator on numerous maintenance-of-certification (MOC) vaccination quality improvement projects for both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Academic Pediatrics Association (APA). Her experience as an immunization educator includes development and implementation of print, in-person, video-based and online interactive forms of immunization education for clinicians. Dr. Humiston previously worked in (what was then) the Training Education Branch of CDC’s National Immunization Program. During her tenure with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), she was the project officer on a series of studies that led to successful demonstration of improved immunization-related communication with parents in primary care offices. She is currently collaborating on the development of a succinct, mixed methods, foundational immunization curriculum for pediatric and family medicine residents.

Most recently, Dr. Humiston’s work has focused on increasing rates of cancer prevention with HPV vaccine. She was co-principal investigator of the AAP’s “HPV Vaccination Project” and has served as the AAP representative on the American Cancer Society’s HPV Vaccination Roundtable and the Roundtable Steering Committee. She also provided leadership on HPV vaccination initiatives for the APA and now serves as co-chair of the APA’s “Special Interest Group on Immunization.” Dr. Humiston is also the Director for Research at the Immunization Action Coalition and previously served on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), where she chaired the Communication and Public Engagement subcommittee.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Humiston to the Vaccine Update community! If you have topics that you would like to see Dr. Humiston write about or if you would like to reach her, please email vacinfo@chop.edu with the subject line “Technically Speaking.”