Effective vaccinations against influenza were established many years ago. However, lack of availability of vaccines and the potential for new influenza subtypes to spread in pandemics represent new challenges to global public health. To alleviate supply issues, some public health experts propose administering low-dose vaccines, but will this be adequate to protect high-risk populations? With the prospect of an avian influenza epidemic on the horizon, are researchers doing everything they can to create effective vaccines against this global health threat? How are scientists working to produce genetically modified vaccine strains and what are the results of vaccine evaluation in humans?

For many, it has become evident that strategies to improve the effectiveness of such vaccines are urgently needed.

To examine these and other controversial issues about the vaccine crisis and the science of producing effective vaccines against avian influenza, the New York Academy of Sciences is presenting a discussion, "The Science of Influenza Vaccines" on Thursday, December 2, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Academy headquarters, 2 East 63rd Street, New York, NY

The program will feature four speakers who will speak on the following topics:

-- "The Interferon Antagonist Gene of Influenza Virus as a Target for Attenuation in Live Influenza Vaccines."

Speaker: Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

-- "Live Attenuated Influenza FluMist Vaccine: Genetic Studies of the Recently Drifted A/Fujian/411/2002-Like H3N2 Influenza Strains."

Speaker: Hong Jin, MedImmune Vaccines

-- "Confronting the Challenge of Influenza."

Speaker: John Treanor, University of Rochester Medical Center

-- "Vaccines for Avian Influenza Viruses with Pandemic Potential."

Speaker: Jacqueline Katz, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention