At Chiba University (CU), one key area of research is mucosal vaccines being conducted under the international collaborative roof of CU-UCSD center for mucosal immunology, allergy and vaccines (cMAV). Mucosal vaccines are administered orally or via nasal spray and thus considered as the less stressful vaccination strategy when compared with widely used injection-type vaccines. One type of oral vaccines is also called a “green vaccine” because it is made from rice grown in a closed hydroponic system with no associated industrial or medical waste generated to dispose of and requires no refrigeration for storage. From Dental Caries to Mucosal Vaccine Research Dental caries constituted a major oral health problem when I graduated from Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo in 1977. At that time, a project to develop a vaccine to prevent dental caries was launched mainly in Europe and the United States. Immediately after graduation, I went to study at the Jerry McGee Lab at the University of … Continue reading Non-Injectable Mucosal Vaccines Providing Safe and Less Stressful Immunization