Vaccines are the most effective biomedical innovation saving countless lives yet face growing skepticism. Novel technologies, including systems biology, adjuvants that boost vaccine responses, and cell culture systems that model individual vaccine responses outside the body, promise to make vaccines even better, enhancing safety and efficacy in vulnerable populations. Dr. Ofer Levy was born to and raised by the artist Benjamin Levy and music composer Hannah Levy in New York City, where he graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. After graduating from Yale College (B.S., Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry), Dr. Levy entered the Medical Scientist (MD/PhD) Training Program at New York University School of Medicine. There he earned his PhD under the mentorship of Drs. Peter Elsbach and Jerrold Weiss, characterizing neutrophil-derived antimicrobial proteins and peptides. Inspired by his wife Sharon’s example, he chose Pediatrics and completed both residency and fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is currently Professor at Harvard Medical School as well as principal investigator, staff physician in Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Precisions Vaccine Program in the Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital. The Precision Vaccines Program is an academic program that fosters international collaboration between academia, government, and industry for development of vaccine formulations optimized to protect vulnerable populations. Dr. Levy’s laboratory is focused on modeling vaccine-induced human immune responses in vitro using a variety of platforms including three-dimensional microphysiologic systems as well as global molecular (“OMIC”) approaches to accelerate and de-risk development of vaccines optimized for populations with distinct immune responses, including those at the extremes of age who suffer the most infections. He currently leads or co-leads multiple NIH/NIAID-supported studies, including (a) Adjuvant Discovery and Development Program contracts, leveraging high throughput screening to discover, characterize, and formulate novel small molecule adjuvants to enhance vaccine responses of vulnerable populations such as infants and older adults and (b) systems biology projects via the Human Immunology Project Consortium and the Immune Development in Early Life (IDEAL) program to define biomarkers of vaccine responsiveness, respiratory infection and asthma. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx