DARPA Announces AIM to Overhaul Vaccination Systems

The Assessing Immune Memory (AIM) program proposes the development of a platform that will "uncover new biomolecular correlates..." and "incorporate next-generational analytical and computational approaches to determine the host response mechanisms that lead to long-lasting protection".

[READ @ darpa.mil] Taking Guesswork Out of Vaccine Development

This initiative is still in its infancy, but its proposal guidelines are rather specific.

[READ @ sam.gov] Assessing Immune Memory (AIM) Biological Technologies Office 

"DARPA is soliciting innovative proposals that will apply systems biology principles to develop a research and evaluation (R&E) tool for practical assessment of immune memory responses to vaccination. A responsive proposal will integrate biomolecular profiling approaches with computational tools and methods to derive actionable and testable mechanisms from multidimensional datasets.

Specifically excluded is research that involves:

1. The focused development of new vaccines or vaccine modalities.

2. Sole reliance on existing data sets or data mining for mechanistic inference.

3. Development of novel vaccine components (i.e., adjuvants, excipients, etc.).

4. The development of model systems not currently accepted as preclinical or clinically relevant animal models.

5. Advanced development of a product that is out of scope."

As is tradition with all of DARPA's cutting-edge proposals, AIM's trajectory remains unclear. But novel research into immune memory has legitimate lifesaving implications. The current pandemic death count exceeds 4.5 million and the global vaccination count exceeds 2 billion. New variants continue to mutate and spread causing vaccine efficacy to decline. Humankind needs initiatives like AIM to prevent future epidemics from becoming worldwide catastrophes.