The long term goal of my research program is to produce more effective vaccines, specifically designed with target populations in mind, by understanding the mechanisms of vaccine efficacy in the context of confounding factors. The objectives of my funded research program are to improve vaccine efficacy for high-risk and immune-suppressed populations, such as the elderly and helminth-infected, by:

1) interrogating the host-parasite-vaccine tripartite relationship,
2) understanding the contribution of the microbiome to vaccine efficacy, and
3) modifying delivery of vaccines and the way in which vaccines interact with the immune system.

Funding:

$ We completed an NIH grant entitled, “Adjuvant discovery for schistosome-endemic populations.”

$ We currently have a Virginia CHRB grant entitled, “Proof-of-concept study for the development of next-generation vaccines for tick-borne intracellular diseases.”

$ We completed a Cheng Fund for Innovative Research Grant entitled, “Divorcing adjuvant from pathogen – can Listeria molecules rescue vaccine failure?”