Baylor College of Medicine has been selected as one of three initial sites to conduct a Phase II Zika vaccine trial led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Baylor received a research subcontract from Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., prime contractor for the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, which receives funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to manage these clinical trials.

The other two initial clinical trial sites are Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Additional sites included in the second part of the study will be located in Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico.

Researchers will study DNA–based vaccine for Zika virus to further evaluate the vaccine’s safety and ability to stimulate an immune response, as well as how well–tolerated the vaccine is and how the body’s immune functions respond to it.

“It is an important step in developing an effective vaccine for Zika, and it’s exciting to get into Phase II trials to help us better understand how we can protect people from Zika infection,” said Dr. Shital Patel, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Baylor and principal investigator of the Baylor site.

The Baylor College of Medicine Vaccine Research Center is recruiting volunteers between the ages of 18 and 35 years for the study. Volunteers will be divided into three groups to understand the best dosage and method of delivery for the vaccine.