WESTCHESTER CHEMICAL SOCIETY
call for NOMINATIONS FOR THE
Westchester Distinguished Scientist Award - 2007

The nominee must work or reside in the County of Westchester, New York.
Proof of outstanding scholarly or technical achievements are the main criteria.

Send a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae with supporting letters of recommendation and
selected recent publications or other documented evidence of achievement by December 31, 2006 to
Joan Laredo-Liddell
391 Palmer Road
Yonkers, NY 10701-5239

For more information e-mail: or call 914-476-6860.

Spring 2008 Seminars

May 7, 2008
The Westchester Chemical Society presents the Distinguished Scientist Award
Dr. David Fairhurst Consulting Advisor, The International Partnership for Microbicides
Development of a Novel Antigen Delivery System for Sustained Mucosal Protection against HIV-1 Infection.
Program

Induction of vaccine medicated-protection against sexually-acquired infection remains one of the greatest challenges in biomedicine. This is particularly well exemplified by infection with human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), UNAIDS estimate 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS with 5 million newly acquired infections in 2003 alone. The majority of infections are acquired by sexual transmission with women being disproportionately susceptible. Traditional vaccine development is based on the principle that immunological memory, elicited by vaccination, will trigger an immune response of sufficient magnitude and quality to eliminate, or render innocuous, the infectious agent upon subsequent exposure. Such a conventional approach assumes that once infected, the host can disarm the infectious agent via the adaptive immune response. However, it is not at all clear if retroviruses, and particularly lentiviruses such as HIV, can ever be eliminated once the host is infected. Thus vaccine design may have to break with tradition and assume that sterilizing immunity at the portal of viral entry will be required. Hence immunological memory may not be enough to protect against HIV, but may require maintenance of constant and elevated levels of local specific immune effector function. The lecture will present preliminary results from the initial phase of the development of a Sustained protective system against vaginally-acquired HIV-1 infection that uses an innovative but highly practical approach applicable for use in developing countries. The Lecture will focus on the design and formulation of mucoadhesive micro particles having Surface adsorbed antigen. Data will be presented showing that such particles are taken up by mucosal antigen presenting cells (APCs).

This Special Seminar is Free and Open to the Public
Reception & Social Hour: 5:00 pm
Award Presentations & Lecture: 5:45 pm
Dinner: 7:00 pm ACS $20 Non-ACS $25 Students $15 Location: Polytechnic University
Westchester Graduate Center
40 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, NY

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