We develop prophylactic vaccines for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), influenza virus (Flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Ebola, Lassa, Zika, and other viruses.
Based on the atomic structures of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) in complex with their antigens, we employ various protein design tools to stabilize viral envelope (Env) proteins, graft epitopes onto heterologous scaffolds, and engineer self-assembling nanoparticles.
In HIV vaccine development, we have proposed an “uncleaved, prefusion-optimized (UFO)” platform for Env trimer stabilization and developed an array of gp140 nanoparticles.
We are currently extending the UFO/nanoparticle vaccine strategy to other viruses utilizing the class-I fusion mechanism, such as Flu, Ebola, and RSV.