“There’s something to be gained from understanding why certain people survive,” said Thomas Geisbert, a virologist studying Ebola at UTMB. But studying survivors is a tall order in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria — countries simultaneously plagued by Ebola and a dearth of medical infrastructure. “The No. 1 priority for health care workers in this chaotic situation is stopping the outbreak, not a scientific study looking at survivors,” Geisbert said. He added that the best way to stop the current outbreak is “good old-fashioned epidemiology and outbreak control,” and the best way to prevent futures outbreaks is a vaccine. The first phase 1 safety study of an Ebola vaccine is set to start next week, the National Institutes of Health announced yesterday. “I really hope that the next time we’re talking about this, those vaccines are across the finish line,” Geisbert said.