DOE/LANL Jurisdiction Fire Danger Rating:
Rapter Banner
  1. LANL Home
  2. Science & Engineering
  3. Science Programs
  4. RAPTER

RAPTER Framework

What Is the Best Vaccine Platform for Pathogen X?

When a new pathogen emerges, selecting an appropriate vaccine platform is one of the most consequential early development decisions. Different platforms generate distinct immune responses — even when presenting the same antigen. RAPTER provides a structured, outcome-driven framework to evaluate platform compatibility based on mechanistic immune modeling, curated evidence, and uncertainty-aware statistical analysis.

RAPTER Workflow for Outcome-Driven Platform Selection

RAPTER operates as an integrated system combining knowledge extraction, mechanistic modeling, standardized experimentation, and statistical scoring to generate outcome-specific platform rankings.

1   Framework
Image created in BioRender.

Knowledge Extraction

AI-assisted literature review and structured database integration translate heterogeneous vaccine and pathogen evidence into comparable variables.

Mechanistic Modeling

Computational and statistical models link immune measurements to mechanistic parameters and estimate platform-specific immune response profiles.

Standardized Experiments

Targeted experimental studies resolve critical data gaps and enable cross-platform comparison under consistent protocols.

Outcome-Specific Scoring & Ranking

Integrated evidence is evaluated relative to defined protection endpoints, incorporating uncertainty to produce ranked recommendations.

Decision-Relevant Outputs

RAPTER generates transparent, uncertainty-aware outputs designed to support outcome-driven vaccine platform selection. Results are tailored to defined protection endpoints and reflect both evidence quality and model uncertainty.

Ranked Platform Comparison

Platforms are evaluated relative to defined protection endpoints and presented as comparative rankings.

Uncertainty Quantification

Model outputs include uncertainty estimates reflecting data limitations and parameter variability.

Endpoint-Specific Scoring

Platform compatibility is evaluated separately for distinct protection goals (e.g., preventing infection vs. severe disease).

4   Outputs
Image created in BioRender.

Conceptual illustration of endpoint-specific platform comparison with uncertainty estimates. Visuals are illustrative and non-quantitative.

Learn more about Applications.