Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
AI Modeling Initiative
For the first time ever, scientists at the Human Immunome Project are combining systems biology with artificial intelligence to understand one of the greatest remaining frontiers of human health, the human immune system.
Modeled after the Human Genome Project, which has transformed biomedical research, the Human Immunome Project (formerly known as the Human Vaccines Project) is seeking to transform how we fight our most devastating diseases by unlocking the mechanisms of human immunity — accelerating the development of new vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments.
Born Strong Initiative
Every year 3 million children are stillborn, 800,000 new-borns die from infection and 15 million babies are born dangerously pre-term. That’s more than 1 in every 10 babies robbed of a healthy life. This is not just a problem in low- and middle-income countries. Despite the scientific leaps we’ve made, these statistics haven’t changed in decades. Cause(s) of pre-term birth is not well understood, and there are currently no vaccines, diagnostics, or therapeutics for prevention and control.
The BORN STRONG Initiative is an ambitious series of research projects, focused on finding effective ways to strengthen a mother’s immune system in order to positively impact her baby’s immune resilience.
Michelson Prizes
The Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants are $150,000 research grants given annually to support promising researchers who are applying disruptive concepts and inventive processes to advance human immunology, vaccine discovery, and immunotherapy research for major global diseases. research aimed at tackling the current roadblocks that exist in human vaccine development and expanding our limited understanding of key immune processes that are fundamental to successful vaccine and immunotherapy development. The Michelson Prizes are awarding research that is highly innovative and impactful, with the potential to be applied across many diseases.
Human Immunomics Initiative
The Human Immunomics Initiative (HII) is a joint initiative partnering the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Human Vaccines Project to create the world’s premier immunology initiative that aims to revolutionize the understanding of the human immune system and accelerate the creation of effective vaccines, with a specific focus on aging populations. The HII will merge large-scale cohort studies with advances in systems biology, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the rules of engagement for effective immunity in aging populations aiming to answer core questions of aging such as: Why do some people get disease as they age, while others do not? And how do we engineer aging immune systems to better fight disease?
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of research studies conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
The HIP and its partners are undertaking some of the most in-depth vaccine studies yet conducted to understand how such vaccines protect, which vaccines work best for which populations, and how to imp
Total number of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The $150,000 research grants are awarded each year to early career innovators who apply disruptive research concepts to advance human immunology, vaccine discovery, and immunotherapy globally.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Human Immunome Project is an independent global non-profit organization dedicated to developing AI based models the immune system to rethink research across diseases, and ultimately extend and enhance the healthy lifespan of 8 billion human beings.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Human Immunome Project is compiling the biggest dataset of biomedicine at a population scale. We will use this data to create the first AI model of the human immune system, which will help us speed up the testing process and make the development of vaccines and treatments faster, cheaper and more effective.
The goal is to collect detailed information on the complex network of genes, proteins, cells, and molecules that constitute the human immunome, and to do this for diverse, global populations over time. Then, by harnessing the power of AI, scientists can crunch these data to generate models of the human immune system. These models can then be used to develop new vaccines and treatments where there none, to protect our populations must vulnerable to disease, and accelerate research across infectious and non-communicable diseases.
In the work that it does, and how it does that work, HIP is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in all facets of our organization and work and believe it is essential to our achieving our goals. Our DEI commitment and effort encompasses:
• Create AI models that reflect human immunological diversity
- scientific priorities and ethical inclusion in research
• advisory and Board committees
• conferences hosted by HVPI
• selection of vendors and consultants that HVPI engages
• workplace hiring of staff and fellows.
Our commitment is essential to our global mission and vision of a world where every person has a chance to enjoy a longer and healthier life.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
HIP works with the top researchers and scientific institutions across the world to carry out its mission. Through our global consortium we enable leading researchers and scientists around the world to work together in designing, implementing, and analyzing outputs from scientific studies. We also partner with leading academic institutions to study specific aspects of immunity and ensure comprehensive data analytics and management.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have open-sourced the first sequencing of the human immune system, used machine learning to predict who will and will not respond to vaccination, and established one of the world's leading scientific consortia and immunology-based research networks. Our network has published seminal studies on the human immunome in high-profile journals, and we’ve made our data publicly available for additional research. HIP has also become a highly impactful advocacy organization, helping to catalyze new ways of working and thinking for human immunology, one of the great frontiers of biomedicine.
In 2022, the Human Immunome Project held a Summit and is now working to develop and implement a strategic plan for creating AI models of the human immunome. The strategic planning process will include follow-on summits held in Europe, Asia, and Africa. At these meetings, participants will delve deeper into some of the key questions related to this initiative, including defining the grand scientific challenges that could be accomplished in the next five years.
Over the next several years, HIP will embark on launching a series of Grand Challenges to solve core problems in human immunology, and lay the foundation for increasingly powerful models of the human immunome.
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
The Human Immunome Project
Board of directorsas of 01/31/2023
Julie Bishop
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/31/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.