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Center for Research in Vaccines and Infections

About Us

For more than a decade, the Center for Research in Vaccines and Infections (CVRI) has been involved in a wide array of research initiatives studying the safety, immunogenicity, efficacy, and effectiveness of vaccines against influenza and other respiratory viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2, and other infectious diseases.

Research led by the CVRI principal investigator is managed through Baylor Scott & White Health Research Institute, which serves as the research and innovation arm of Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas. Since its inception in 2008 under the leadership of Dr. Manjusha Gaglani, the Inaugural Josephine Ballard Endowed Chair and Professor of Pediatrics, Chief Section of Infectious Diseases at Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Hospital in Temple, the CVRI's work has helped to examine influenza vaccine effectiveness in children and adults in the ambulatory setting and inpatient adults, and factors that influence influenza vaccine choice, antibody response to vaccine, and vaccine effectiveness in healthcare workers involved in direct patient care.

CVRI projects past and present include respiratory virus infection surveillance and vaccine effectiveness monitoring for influenza, RSV, and SARS-CoV-2, among others. For over 10 years, CVRI has also served as the only site in Texas facilitating the US Centers for Disease Controls' seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness studies in the ambulatory setting and for over 6 years for adults in the inpatient setting.

Projects

Baylor Scott & White Health US flu vaccine effectiveness network study: 2011- present
CDC-Vanderbilt-Baylor Scott & White Health influenza and other viruses in the Acutely Ill (IVY) Network study: 2021-present
CDC-Abt Associates-Baylor Scott & White Health RECOVER-PROTECT cohort studies: 2020-present
CDC-Westat-Baylor Scott & White Health VISION Network study: 2021-present

Research Team

Dr. Manjusha (Manju) Gaglani, MBBS, FAAP, FIDSA, FPIDS

Director, Center for Research in Vaccines and Infections

Josephine Ballard Endowed Research Chair, Department of Pediatrics at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple, Professor of Medical Education and Practice at Texas A&M University College of Medicine – Temple, Section Chief, Pediatric Infectious Diseases at BSW McLane Children’s Hospital. 

Dr. Gaglani has served as the principal investigator for numerous NIH-, CDC- and industry-sponsored large phase 3 clinical vaccine trials at - Baylor Scott & White Health. Her work spans clinical vaccinology projects for both children and adults and cover infectious diseases, including Influenza, Meningococcal ACWY, TdaP, Hepatitis A and Herpes Simplex vaccines. She has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals including four publications in the New England Journal of Medicine and one in the Journal of American Medical Association.

Dr. Gaglani is a graduate of Seth GS Medical College, University of Bombay, India and completed her first pediatric residency training at Wadia Children’s and K.E.M. Hospitals in Mumbai and her second residency at the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore. She completed her fellowship training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Currently, Dr. Gaglani serves as a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Pediatric - Infectious Disease Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as the Chair-Emeritus of the Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee of the Texas Pediatric Society, the Texas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Laboratory Co-investigators:

  • Dr. Arundhati Rao
  • Dr. Manohar Mutnal
  • Dr. Rigal Pando
  • Dr. Sheila Dobin

CVRI Clinical:

  • Dr. Jason Ramm
  • Dr. Tresa McNeal
  • Dr. Shekhar Ghamande
  • Dr. John Midturi
  • Dr. Ryan Beaver
  • Dr. Madhava Beeram
  • Dr. Keith Stone
  • Dr. Christie Columbus
  • Dr. Robert Gottlieb
  • Dr. Catherine Raver
  • Dr. Uriel Sandkovsky

BSWRI Leaders:

  • VP Research Operations: Jennifer Thomas
  • Clinical Informatics Director: Elisa Priest
  • Clinical Research Administration Director, Central Texas: Natalie Settele
  • Clinical Research Administration Director, North Texas: Tammy Fisher

CRVI Core Biostatisticians:

  • Manager: Monica Bennett
  • Supervisor: Courtney Shaver
  • Mufaddal Mamawala
  • Kempapura Murthy
  • Chandni Raiyani

CRVI Core Data Programmers: (Clinical Informatics Director: Elisa Priest)

  • Core Data Manager: Jason Ettlinger
  • Project Manager: Joel Blais
  • Kayan Dunnigan
  • Leah Odame Bamfo
  • Deepika Konatham
  • Ichia Liao
  • Back-up: Anisha Shrestha

CRVI Core Clinical Research Coordinators

Central Texas Team:

· Clinical Research Manager: Michael Smith

· Supervisor: Spencer Rose

· Nicole Calhoun

· Claire Mathenge

· Amanda McKillop

· Lydia Requenez

North Texas Team:

· Clinical Research Manager: Mariana Hurutado-Rodriguez

· Zuadh Leos-Cerda

· Taryn Kruse

· Symone Dunkley

· Cidni Wilkerson

· Ciara Rosa

North Texas Infection Prevention Epidemiologists:

  • Manager: Gabriella Perez
  • Theresa Grefsrud

CRVI Core Research Lab Techs:

  • Britan Jorgensen
  • Martha Zayed
  • Ashley Graves

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