Developing Multi-Antigen Vaccines for Immunocompromised Patients with David Dodd GeoVax
Release Date: 01/06/2026
Empowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Josh Eloge, Associate Director for the Woman's Board Treatment Research Center, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush University Medical Center, and Founder of Connected Neuroscience has a focus on treatment-resistant depression which is defined as depression that is not relieved by at least two first-line medications. Research has identified that TRD is associated with hyperactivity in a specific brain region, shifting attention from a chemical view of depression to a neurobiological one. Research on deep-brain stimulation and implantable technology...
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Dr. Josh Eloge, Associate Director for the Woman's Board Treatment Research Center, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Rush University Medical Center, and Founder of Connected Neuroscience has a focus on treatment-resistant depression which is defined as depression that is not relieved by at least two first-line medications. Research has identified that TRD is associated with hyperactivity in a specific brain region, shifting attention from a chemical view of depression to a neurobiological one. Research on deep-brain stimulation and implantable technology...
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Dr. Eugene Manley, biomedical scientist turned social impact leader and Founder and CEO of the STEMM & Cancer Health Equity Foundation, is focused on increasing STEMM workforce diversity and improving outcomes for underserved cancer patients. He highlights the lack of diversity in foundational lung cancer research and the need to expand the number of cell lines being included to develop more effective therapies. Eugene also raises concerns about barriers to clinical trial participation and the need to engage local community partners and AI to raise awareness and improve...
info_outlineEmpowered Patient Podcast
Dr. Eugene Manley, biomedical scientist turned social impact leader and Founder and CEO of the STEMM & Cancer Health Equity Foundation, is focused on increasing STEMM workforce diversity and improving outcomes for underserved cancer patients. He highlights the lack of diversity in foundational lung cancer research and the need to expand the number of cell lines being included to develop more effective therapies. Eugene also raises concerns about barriers to clinical trial participation and the need to engage local community partners and AI to raise awareness and improve...
info_outlineEmpowered Patient Podcast
Ro Wickramasinghe, Vice President and Head of Global Business at Pi Health, identifies fundamental problems plaguing clinical trials, including operational inefficiencies and limited access to trials. Pi Health is addressing these challenges by developing an integrated software platform for clinical trial sponsors, sites, and patients and partnering with community-based cancer treatment centers worldwide. The company has built a hospital in India to serve as a living laboratory to test and refine its model to democratize access and increase the ethnic diversity of trial...
info_outlineEmpowered Patient Podcast
Ro Wickramasinghe, Vice President and Head of Global Business at Pi Health, identifies fundamental problems plaguing clinical trials, including operational inefficiencies and limited access to trials. Pi Health is addressing these challenges by developing an integrated software platform for clinical trial sponsors, sites, and patients and partnering with community-based cancer treatment centers worldwide. The company has built a hospital in India to serve as a living laboratory to test and refine its model to democratize access and increase the ethnic diversity of trial...
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Paul Goode, President and CEO of Glucotrack, discusses the evolution and future of continuous glucose and continuous blood glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, as well as opportunities for implantable CMG monitors. In addition to convenience and comfort, the Glucotrack implantable CGM monitor is designed to be more accurate and measure blood glucose. This approach eliminates the lag time associated with wearable CGMs that measure interstitial fluid, enabling faster, more effective treatment decisions. Paul explains, "When you look at the market penetration of CGM in the US,...
info_outlineEmpowered Patient Podcast
Paul Goode, President and CEO of Glucotrack, discusses the evolution and future of continuous glucose and continuous blood glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, as well as opportunities for implantable CMG monitors. In addition to convenience and comfort, the Glucotrack implantable CGM monitor is designed to be more accurate and measure blood glucose. This approach eliminates the lag time associated with wearable CGMs that measure interstitial fluid, enabling faster, more effective treatment decisions. Paul explains, "When you look at the market penetration of CGM in the US,...
info_outlineEmpowered Patient Podcast
Ben Backus, Chief Science Officer, and James Blaha, CEO and Founder of Vivid Vision, discuss their work addressing binocular dysfunctions and improving visual field testing. Their innovative visual test uses a consumer-grade VR headset to deliver a gamified, less stressful, more engaging experience for patients, encouraging longer, more frequent testing. This approach also improves dataset precision and overcomes barriers in clinical trials for new therapeutics for diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, potentially accelerating the development of vision-saving treatments. Ben...
info_outlineEmpowered Patient Podcast
Ben Backus, Chief Science Officer, and James Blaha, CEO and Founder of Vivid Vision, discuss their work addressing binocular dysfunctions and improving visual field testing. Their innovative visual test uses a consumer-grade VR headset to deliver a gamified, less stressful, more engaging experience for patients, encouraging longer, more frequent testing. This approach also improves dataset precision and overcomes barriers in clinical trials for new therapeutics for diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, potentially accelerating the development of vision-saving treatments. Ben...
info_outlineDavid Dodd, CEO of GeoVax, highlights the need for next-generation vaccines, specifically multi-antigen and T cell-focused technologies, to provide better protection for immunocompromised populations. Their pipeline includes a COVID-19 vaccine candidate, an Mpox/Smallpox vaccine, and a gene therapy for solid tumors. A priority for GeoVax is to develop new manufacturing processes to significantly accelerate vaccine production, increase yield, and reduce costs.
David explains, "Multi-antigen vaccines become critically important, especially for populations for whom the existing approach in vaccines, meaning single-antigen vaccines or antibody-focused or antibody-only vaccines, is inadequate. And to clarify that, there are approximately 40 million adults in the United States, about 10 times that number worldwide, who suffer from various medical conditions, such as blood cancers. They may have renal disease, diabetes, or be HIV positive. They may also have weakened immune systems, they could have multiple sclerosis or lupus. So there are a host of medical conditions that the result is they inhibit or they deplete an individual's immune system from mounting an adequate antibody response. And keep in mind, the antibody system is that first line of defense when an infectious threat occurs. And that's sort of like the frontline soldiers. They throw up a protective guard to respond to that."
"That means for those individuals, what we need to do is also address this, as we develop vaccines, and some technologies allow you to do this. The majority of vaccine platforms do not, unfortunately. And that is to also induce a very strong cellular immunity or T cells. And this becomes critically important because T cells are what clear a virus from the body. It's also what drives what is known as memory, and also gives breadth or robustness of protection. So it becomes critically important that if one has the opportunity because of their technology or the platform they're utilizing to enlist and engage both the antibody as well as the cellular side, then one can generally develop a much more robust protective immune response that will reduce the risk of severe infection, hospitalization, and the risk of death against certain infections."
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