Dr. John Heinrichs, Director at Merck & Co., to speak at vaccines meeting on Nov. 7-8 in Boston, MA.

Aug. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Dr. Jon Heinrichs, Director, Microbial Vaccines, Merck Research Laboratories, to deliver featured presentation at the “9th Annual Vaccines Discovery and Development:  All Things Considered” conference, to be held on Nov. 7-8, 2011 in Boston, MA by GTC.

Dr. Heinrichs will discuss the development of vaccines for the prevention of Chlamydia trachomatis genital infections.  Chlamydia trachomatis is a leading cause of both ocular disease (trachoma) and urogenital infections, and is the most commonly reported sexually transmitted disease in the United States. Although genital infection with chlamydia is frequently asymptomatic, failure to treat women can lead to serious health conditions including pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. Merck, in collaboration with the University of Texas Health Sciences Center and the University of Texas at San Antonio, is seeking to identify novel vaccine candidates from the proteome of this organism.

Dr. Jon Heinrichs is the director of Microbial Vaccines at Merck Research Laboratories in West Point, PA, where he leads a team of scientists developing vaccines for several bacterial pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Chlamydia trachomatis. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Heinrichs held positions of increasing responsibility at the biotechnology company, MedImmune, where he contributed to the identification of vaccine candidates for numerous bacterial pathogens, particularly S. pneumoniae. He was also involved in research on the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies for the prevention of infectious diseases and the treatment of cancer, and was head of the In Vivo Biology group.

The 9th Vaccine Discovery and Development:  All Things Considered conference annually brings together experts in vaccines from big and small pharmaceutical companies, academia, and government.  The intimate setting of the conference enables networking and the opportunity to meet speakers and delegates.  This year’s conference will appropriately take place in Boston, MA, the hub of research and development.  

The purpose of the event is to generate dialogue and to introduce novel advances in the field of vaccines.  It is part of a two-track meeting that will take place at the Omni Parker House.  Delegates at this event will have a chance to meet the attendees of the concurrent 8th Anti-Infectives Partnering and Deal-Making conference.

The sessions for this conference are:
Vaccines for Infectious Diseases
Therapeutic Vaccines
Regulatory and Government Policy
New Technologies in Vaccine Development
Future Trends in Vaccine Discovery and New Vaccines

For more information, please visit www.gtcbio.com.

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