In 2022, about one in every 500 babies ages six months and younger was hospitalized due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the second leading cause of infant mortality in the U.S. But thanks to the contributions of Larner College of Medicine researcher Sean Diehl, Ph.D.’03, associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, and colleagues, this no longer has to be the case. In 2010, Diehl, alongside researchers at Amsterdam University Medical Centers, made a breakthrough — they found an antibody that offers protection against this life-threatening virus for newborns.

After over a decade of tinkering and testing, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alongside the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), in 2023 unanimously approved to recommend that the antibody drug, known as Beyfortus (nirsevimab) and dispensed through Sanofi and AstraZeneca, be incorporated into the vaccination schedule for infants under eight months of age. Recent data indicates that nirsevimab is a resounding success, proving 90 percent effective in preventing infant hospitalization.

Read more about the Sean Diehl’s work.

Research of this type has contributed to the University of Vermont's designation by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R1 institution, placing it in the top tier of research universities in the U.S.