IVD Research

Dr. Jim Boonyaratanakornkit studies viruses that afflict vulnerable patients and uses highly sensitive techniques to identify protective immune responses against viruses.

Dr. Ann Duerr focuses on interventions among African women to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission via breastfeeding, and on trials of prophylactic HIV vaccines through the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN). The lab also conducts clinical studies and research in non-human primates and antiretroviral treatment to prevent onward HIV transmission in Peru.

Dr. Leslie Goo researches the immune response to mosquito-borne flaviviruses such as dengue virus, West Nile virus and Zika virus. By combining tools in virology, molecular biology, immunology, genomics, and epidemiology, the team strives to inform the design of vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Dr. James Kublin studies the role of the microbiome in vaccine responses, with a focus on how specific microbes and their metabolites modulate host innate and adaptive immune responses. His work includes developing discrete microbial consortia to manipulate vaccine responses in gnotobiotic mouse models, as well as investigating microbiome and immunogenicity data from HIV, malaria, and TB clinical trials.

Dr. Jennifer Lund investigates the basic mechanisms of immunity in the context of viral infection. She is also focused on the immune correlates of protection from HIV infection among exposed seronegative individuals, and the potential immune modulatory effects of using pre-exposure prophylaxis.

Dr. Julie McElrath applies multi-disciplinary and cross-platform approaches to studies on HIV, malaria and tuberculosis vaccines, partnering with multiple organizations in various countries.

Dr. Andrew McGuire studies antibody response to natural infection with viral pathogens of public health importance. Through increased knowledge of protective antibody responses to viral antigens, his group designs and tests safe and effective vaccines.

Dr. Evan Newell develops and applies novel methods for identifying and characterizing antigen-specific human T cells in the context of cancer and chronic infection, with the goal of identifying specific and accurate biomarkers of human health and disease.

Dr. Martin Prlic primarily studies T cell and innate-like T cell responses in mucosal tissues, with a particular interest in understanding how these cells function during infections and cancer occurrences. By understanding the molecular basis of cell activation and differentiation, his group hopes to learn how to manipulate the cells for therapeutic purposes and to improve human health.

Dr. Leo Stamatatos investigates the activation, survival and maturation of B cell clonal lineages, and develops new immunogens and immunization regimens to target these lineages in vivo. The lab employs diverse experimental approaches, with work spanning the pre-clinical stage to clinical evaluation of candidate vaccines.

Dr. Roland Strong investigates translational biophysics, structural molecular immunology and vaccinology. His group applies biophysical approaches to understand the recognition mechanisms of innate and adaptive immunoreceptors from a molecular perspective, ultimately furthering vaccine development and engineering targeted immunotheranostics.

Dr. Justin Taylor studies the mechanisms limiting the generation of a protective B cell response using their recently developed enrichment method. These approaches allow for the phenotypic and functional analysis of naive and activated B cells, leading to increased knowledge in effective vaccine design.

Dr. Hootie Warren focuses on cancer immunology, with a particular interest in the cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate cancer regression after immune-based therapy. His group frequently uses preclinical models to study the interaction of human cancer with the immune system.