Spotlight: 2025 IDCRC Annual Meeting

2025 IDCRC Annual Meeting

From April 30 to May 1, the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC) held its Annual Meeting on the NIH Campus at Fisher Lane in Maryland. The campus atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm, turning it into a hub of innovation and collaboration. About 200 attendees from the IDCRC, Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEU), and NIAID’s Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) partners—gathered in person and virtually to celebrate remarkable breakthroughs in infectious diseases research. The event created dynamic networking opportunities for all participants, making it a memorable experience.  

This year's program showcased the many scientific achievements of the IDCRC and VTEUs. On April 30, attendees gathered to begin the meeting. The IDCRC team provided welcome and opening remarks, presented the State of the Network, highlighted VTEUs in spotlight presentations, held an awards ceremony, and organized a poster session featuring participants from throughout the network, as detailed in the agenda below.

2025 ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA 

"The 2025 IDCRC Annual Meeting was a great success. Attendees heard about cutting-edge scientific advances and annual progress from VTEU network investigators with a special focus on early stage investigators.  IDCRC members and NIH/DMID partners told us they were pleased that science was the highlight of the infectious diseases meeting. The opportunity to catch up in person was also highly valued. Thank you to all meeting planners and attendees for making it a success." —Jodie Dionne, MD, MSPH, Leadership Operations Center (LOC) co-director.

Annual Meeting Day 1

Dr. Jodie Dionne delivered welcome and opening remarks to usher in the start of the meeting. David Stephens, MD, Leadership Group (LG) chair, and James Campbell, MD, MS, LG vice chair, presented the annual State of the Network address. Director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), John Beigel, MD, provided an update on DMID. 

Poster Sessions

We were thrilled to have poster sessions across our many VTEU partners.

  • "Safety and Immunogenicity of Mpox Vaccination in Adolescents" - Dr. C. Mary Healy, Baylor College of Medicine
  • "Phase 1 Trial of CVM150 and CVM26 Intranasal Mumps Virus Vaccines in Healthy Adults" - Dr. Paul Spearman, Cincinnati Children’sPhase 1 Trial of CVM150 and CVM26 Intranasal Mumps Virus Vaccines in Healthy Adults
  • "Immune response to influenza vaccine in adolescents with Crohn's Disease, is it adequate?" - Dr. Cristina Tomatis Souverbielle, Cincinnati Children’s
  • "Investigation of influenza antibody transfer following maternal vaccination using the PREVAIL Maternal-Infant Birth Cohort" - Dr. Danielle Fayad, Cincinnati Children’s
  • "Altered spike IgG Fc N-Linked glycans are associated with hyperinflammatory state in adult COVID-19 and MIS-C" - Dr. Erin Scherer, Emory University
  • "Safety, Reactogenicity, and Acceptability of a Placebo Dissolving Microneedle Patch in Infants and Children" - Dr. Christina Rostad, Emory University
  • "Meeting Participants Where They Are: A Case-Based Analysis of Promising Recruitment & Retention Strategies" - Dr. Lalitha Parameswaran, New York University
  • "The Two-dose MVA-BN Mpox Vaccine Induces a Nondurable and Low Avidity MPXV-specific Antibody Response" - Dr. Ralf Duerr, New York University
  • "Mpox- and vaccinia-specific immunities induced by non-replicating and replicating smallpox vaccines" - Dr. Getahun Abate, Saint Louis University
  • "Effect of obesity on type and durability of B and T cell immunity after COVID19 vaccination" - Dr. Sarah George, Saint Louis University
  • "Generation and testing of a universal T cell targeted influenza vaccine" - Christopher S. Eickhoff, Saint Louis University
  • "Chemical Synthesis of Mycobacterial Glycolipids (mGLP) for Advanced Immunotherapeutic Applications" - Dr. Mei Xia, Saint Louis University
  • "An intranasal adjuvanted, recombinant influenza A/H5 vaccine candidate induces broad priming against diverse influenza A/H5N1 virus clades in a phase I randomized trial in healthy adults" - Dr. Meagan Deming, University of Maryland CVD
  • "Persistence of immune responses to pentavalent (ACYWX) meningococcal conjugate vaccine in young Malian children" - Dr. Wilbur Chen, University of Maryland CVD
  • "Respiratory Syncytial Virus Humoral Antibody Responses in Older Adults after Vaccination or Infection" - Dr. Ann Falsey, University of Rochester
  • "Getting to the Heart of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Disease Burden" - Dr. Paulina Sudnik, University of Rochester
  • "Cytokines Associated with Moderate and Severe Adverse Events and Parasitemia Following Vaccination with Chemo-attenuated Plasmodium Falciparum Sporozoite Vaccine" - Dr. Lauren Jatt, University of Washington
  • "PICS-ating on MDRO Prevention: Immunometabolic Dysregulation in Children with Congenital Heart Disease and PICS (Persistent Inflammation, Immunosuppression, & Catabolism Syndrome)" - Dr. Buddy Creech, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Annual Awards

 To recognize the remarkable contributions of VTEU members to the missions of the IDCRC and VTEU, the IDCRC announced the winners of the Annual IDCRC Award. These awards were presented to the following members during the meeting: 

The atmosphere was vibrant and energetic, filled with engaging conversations and exciting networking opportunities. The day closed with breakout sessions for the Early Career Investigators, VTEU Coordinators, the PROMISE study team, and the Performance Evaluation, Ethics, and Quality Assurance Key Function Committee (PEQ KFC). 

Annual Meeting Day 2

The enthusiasm from Day 1 carried on as Day 2 started with welcoming remarks from Dr. Dionne. This was followed by panel discussions featuring Early Career Investigators, moderated by Daniel Graciaa, MD, MPH, MSc. The panelists included Tara (Tia) Babu, MD, MSCI; Lauren Jatt, MD; Erin Scherer, PhD, DPhil (participating virtually) and Cristina Tomatis-Souverbielle, MD.

A notable moment during the Early Career Investigators (IDCRC Mentees) panel discussions was a call to action from one of the mentees, Laura Jatt. She addressed the accomplished infectious disease (ID) researchers in the room, whom she referred to as "rock stars, in not-so-plain words." Laura urged them, “Please talk to us… and not just the other way around,” highlighting the eagerness of the mentees to engage in projects and collaborate more actively within the network. 

"It was a privilege to share this panel discussion with fellow Early Career Investigators. Training the next generation of investigators is an incredibly impactful aspect of the IDCRC's mission. The panelists' achievements and enthusiasm for infectious diseases research are inspiring, and I look forward to their continued and future contributions to the field," shares Dr. Graciaa.

Afterwards, the VTEU spotlight presentations continued for the remaining six VTEUs out of the ten. 

VIEW VTEU HIGHLIGHTS HERE

Wrap Up & Looking Ahead

The annual meeting ended with the closing remarks from the IDCRC LG Chair, Dr. David Stephens. As chair of the LG and PI of the IDCRC, he provided remarks on the progress of this group and how we can continue to look forward.

Dr. Stephens shares that, “In challenging times, the meeting created energy and excitement for the IDCRC /VTEU network and provided an opportunity to collaborate and network in person, to hear exciting results from studies underway, and to engage young investigators."

Dates for the 2026 Annual meeting are currently being finalized, and we look forward to sharing them with you soon. Stay tuned!

Annual IDCRC Awards