Will Multiple Influenza Vaccinations Enhance the T Cell Response to Influenza Virus Challenge in Overweight and Obese Individuals? (2016)

Undergraduates: Eloise Joubert, Jennifer Rebeles

Faculty Advisor: Melinda Beck
Department: Biology

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Vaccination with influenza vaccine is the best method to prevent or lessen infection with influenza virus. Obesity has begun to be studied as an independent risk factor for influenza infection. It has previously been demonstrated that one's nutritional status can affect the T cell response of the immune system. Specifically, overweight and obese individuals tend to have a decreased T cell response. My research seeks to provide evidence whether one's nutritional status impacts adaptive immunity. This semester, I will be completing my project measuring the T cell response using flow cytometry using a diverse sample population to indicate whether multiple influenza vaccinations over a five year period will enhance the T cell response and finish my analysis. The patients have participated in the influenza study from 2009-2015. All subjects are 18 years of age or older and were recruited from UNC Family Medicine Center who received the appropriate trivalent flu vaccination each year. PBMC cells were collected years 2010-2015 of the study and were used in my experiment to measure the CD3, CD8, Granzyme B, and IFN gamma responses to strains A/California/7/2009 (H1N1) and B/Massachusetts/2/2012.