The movie Contagion, a star-studded medical thriller about a killer virus that spreads around the globe, is generating interest about the risk of such a “pandemic” and the role of scientists to control and prevent it.
One such scientist is Dr. Buddy Creech, a vaccine researcher at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who was among a small group of Vanderbilt doctors and staff invited to a sneak peek of the film. Creech, who with his colleagues helped test the H1N1 vaccine in 2009, says that while the film took some dramatic license, the risk that it depicts is very real.
In this video, Creech shares his thoughts about the movie and its relevance to the work his team is doing – including studying how differences in the DNA of individuals may impact how each responds to a vaccine and how that knowledge could be used to develop tailored vaccines.
Read more about:
Vanderbilt’s role in developing vaccines
Outbreak Investigation: A Cheat Sheet
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Contact: Cynthia Floyd Manley, (615) 936-5711
cynthia.manley@vanderbilt.edu