#439 - 🔵 [PAS 2026] - Why Can't We Give the Same Vaccine to Every Baby and Call It a Day?

Send us Fan MailDr. Ofer Levy, director of the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children's Hospital and member of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee, makes the case that vaccines must be tailored to the immune system of the person receiving them — and that immune system changes dramatically from the moment of birth through old age. He explains why preterm infants, who represent 11% of births worldwide, carry an increased risk of infection-related hospitalization all the way through age 18, and why almost no investment has been made in understanding how to optimally immunize them. He also discusses the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, which is shifting vaccine development away from animal models toward human in vitro modeling and systems biology, and reflects on what precision vaccinology could mean for rebuilding public trust in a deeply polarized conversation — not by dismissing concerns, but by taking vaccine safety science more seriously than ever before.Support the showAs always, feel free to send us questions, comments, or suggestions to our email: [email protected]. You can also contact the show through Instagram or Twitter, @nicupodcast. Or contact Ben and Daphna directly via their Twitter profiles: @drnicu and @doctordaphnamd. The papers discussed in today's episode are listed and timestamped on the webpage linked below.Enjoy!