{"475441":{"#nid":"475441","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Mistilis Wins Poster Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EA seasonal flu can spread easily from person to person. Yearly epidemics sweep through schools, nursing homes, businesses and towns, taking a destructive toll on human public health and the economy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EEach year, flu epidemics make up to 5 million people severely ill worldwide, killing up to 500,000. In the U.S. alone, up to 20 percent of the population gets the flu, sending about 200,000 people to the hospital, and killing up to 49,000 a year.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe flu also is very expensive, costing an estimated $10.4 billion a year in direct medical expenses plus $16.3 billion in lost annual earnings in this country, which shoulders a total flu-related economic burden of $87 billion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe single best way to prevent the flu is vaccination, according to the World Health Organization as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means Matt Mistilis should have plenty of work to do, going forward.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIt is really an exciting time right now,\u201d says Mistilis, who recently completed his work toward a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. \u201cWe have an opportunity to make a real impact.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EFor the past several years, Mistilis has worked in the lab of Mark Prausnitz at the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience on cutting edge microneedle patch technology for the painless, minimally invasive application of vaccines.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ESpecifically, Mistilis has been focusing on vaccine stability. His work was recognized at the annual Georgia Bio Innovation Summit in November, when he took home the award for best poster in the Anthony Shuker Scientific Poster Session.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHis poster, entitled, \u201cStabilization of Influenza Vaccine in Microneedle Patches for Room-Temperature Storage,\u201d grabbed a lot of attention because, he believes, the subject matter is easily grasped.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cPeople understand why this is important from a public health perspective, this idea of making sure that people get the vaccines they need,\u201d says Mistilis, whose poster shows how he developed the formulations to keep the vaccine stable, then how he tested the stability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe ability to retain the vaccine\u2019s immunogenicity at elevated temperatures for more than a year will allow for cheaper and simpler vaccination campaigns. This is particularly good news for parts of the world where cold storage and accessibility to medicine are a challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s relatively easy to get vaccines here in the U.S.,\u201d says Mistilis, who plans to work in the pharmaceutical industry. \u201cBut around the world, there are countries that have trouble running vaccine campaigns efficiently.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Research focused on vaccine stability in microneedle patches"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EResearch focused on vaccine stability in microneedle patches\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Research focused on vaccine stability in microneedle patches"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2015-12-02 17:21:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:12","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-12-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-12-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"475401":{"id":"475401","type":"image","title":"Matt Mistilis","body":null,"created":"1449257202","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:26:42","changed":"1475895225","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:45","alt":"Matt Mistilis","file":{"fid":"99274","name":"dsc_0392.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0392_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0392_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2280183,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0392_0.jpg?itok=5-CgFBty"}}},"media_ids":["475401"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"84901","name":"grad students"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}