The impact of the web in immunology, AIDS and vaccine education

Jean-Pierre KRAEHENBUHL, Nathalie DEBARD and Pascal PY in collaboration with Janice Darden (International Laboratory Oversight Manager, 6700 B Rockledge Drive Room 5255, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA), Danna Flood (⁴HVTN, FHCRC, 1100 Fairview Ave. J3-100, Seatlle, WA 98109, USA;  , and Jonathan Fuchs (HVTN; San Francisco Department of Public Health & Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA).

The promise of the internet as a medium to teach basic and applied immunology lies in the ability to illustrate complex concepts in novel ways for diverse and often geographically dispersed audiences. Two collaborative e-learning projects are currently under development: Immunology Online advances a web-based curriculum in basic and clinical immunology to undergraduate and graduate biology and medical students, and the OCTAVE Project (http://octave.bio-med.ch) will offer on-line training to an international cadre of new investigators conducting clinical trials of experimental HIV vaccines.

The OCTAVE project aims at facilitating HIV vaccine development. Like Immunology Online, OCTAVE will use the Leaning Management System platform to provide a number of interactive training experiences. GCP training will rely on article and case-based learning to clarify investigator responsibilities outlined in regulatory guidance from the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) and U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. In addition, vaccinology training will employ self-directed and tutor-assisted case-based instruction to help investigators synthesize pre-clinical safety and immunogenicity data to build a rationale for moving a hypothetical candidate HIV vaccine into clinical trials. This training will be also be informed by relevant background contributed by subject experts in HIV immunopathogenesis. Finally, the project is committed to involving investigators from resource-poor nations at all levels of program development including content creation, peer review, and evaluation to confirm the relevance and utility of the curriculum in local contexts.  This pilot program was initiated in the fourth quarter of 2004 and piloting modules of HIV molecular biology and pathogenesis as well as the laboratory methodology training will be presented at the AIDS Vaccine meeting.

The project is funded through a grant from the Office of AIDS research, DAIDS and from EuroVacc.