Isolation of HIV-1-neutralizing mucosal monoclonal antibodies from human colostrum.

Research Interests. 

The Alam laboratory’s primary research is focused on understanding the biophysical properties of antigen-antibody binding and the molecular events of early B cell activation using the HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) lineage models. We are studying how HIV-1 Envelope proteins of varying affinities are sensed by B cells expressing HIV-1 bnAbs or their germline antigen receptors and initiate early signaling events for their activation. In the long-term these studies will facilitate design and pre-selection of immunogens for testing in animal models and accelerate HIV-1 vaccine development.
Current research include the following NIAID-funded projects   

Antigen recognition and activation of B cell antigen receptors with the specificity of HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies. This project involves elucidating the early events on the B cell surface following antigen (Ag) engagement of the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) and to provide an assessment of the in vivo potential of an Ag to drive B cell activation. We are performing biophysical interactions analyses and using high-resolution microscopy to define the physico-chemical properties of BCR-Ag interactions that govern signaling and activation thresholds for BCR triggering and the BCR endocytic function in antigen internalization. The overall objective of these studies is to bridge the quantitative biophysical and membrane dynamics measurements of Ag-BCR interactions to ex-vivo and in-vivo B cell activation. This NIAID-funded research is a collaboration with co-investigators Professor Michael Reth (University of Freiburg, Germany) and Dr. Laurent Verkoczy (San Diego Biomedical Research Institute, CA).  

Dr. Justin Pollara is a member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Duke Center for Human Systems Immunology, and is Associate Director of the Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Developmental Core. He received his PhD from North Carolina State University and completed his postdoctoral training as a recipient of the Duke NIH Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS (IRTPA) T32 award in the laboratory of Dr. Guido Ferrari. He joined the faculty of the Duke Department of Surgery in 2016.

A common theme of research performed in Dr. Pollara’s laboratory is a focus on interactions between innate and adaptive immunity. Dr. Pollara’s work has contributed significantly to the understanding of the roles played by non-neutralizing antibodies in limiting HIV-1 disease progression, and in prevention of infection or control of virus replication in preclinical and clinical HIV-1 vaccine trials. Dr. Pollara’s research has also identified specific components of the immune response that reduce the risk of vertical transmission of both HIV-1 and human cytomegalovirus. The Pollara lab characterizes the phenotype and functionality of antibody-interacting innate immune cells and explores how natural genetic variation in antibodies and antibody receptors may contribute to vaccine responsiveness and immune competence. Further, with a strong interdisciplinary and collaborative approach, the Pollara Lab has broadened its scope beyond infectious diseases and is now actively leading studies aimed at understanding how inflammation, antibodies, innate immune cells, and newly described populations of T cells promote allograft injury that underlies rejection of transplanted organs.

1. Lymphocyte development and antigen-driven diversification of immunoglobulin and T cell antigen receptor genes.
   2. The germinal center reaction and mechanisms for clonal selection and self - tolerance. The origins of autoimmunity.
   3. Interaction of innate- and adaptive immunity and the role of inflammation in lymphoid organogenesis.
   4. The role of secondary V(D)J gene rearrangment in lymphocyte development and malignancies.
   5. Mathematical modeling of immune responses, DNA motifs, collaborations in bioinformatics.
   6. Humoral immunity to influenza and HIV-1.

The activities of the Ferrari Laboratory are based on both independent basic research and immune monitoring studies. The research revolves around three main areas of interest: class I-mediated cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), gene expression in NK and T cellular subsets upon infection with HIV-1. With continuous funding over the last 11 years from the NIH and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation along with many other productive collaborations within and outside of Duke, the Ferrari Lab has expanded its focus of research to include the ontogeny of HIV-1 specific immune responses that work by eliminating HIV-1 infected cells and how these can be induced by AIDS vaccine candidates.

Dr. Georgia Tomaras is a tenured Professor of Surgery, Professor of Immunology, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).  Dr. Tomaras is Co-Director of the Center for Human Systems Immunology (CHSI) Duke University and Director of the Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). Her national and international leadership roles include: Executive Management Team (EMT) leader and mPI for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN); Director of Lab Sciences (HVTN); and Chair of NIH Vaccine Research Center (VRC) Board of Scientific Counselors. Her prior leadership roles include serving as the Director of Research, Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI); Director of the DHVI Training Program; Associate Director of DHVI Research; Co-Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS (IRTPA) Duke; Chair of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIDS Vaccine Research Subcommittee (AVRS), and Advisory Counsel member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Dr. Tomaras’ primary research focus is deciphering mechanisms of protective human immunity and identification of immune correlates of protection to further development of effective vaccines against infectious diseases.  

Tony Moody, MD is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases and Professor in the Department of Integrative Immunobiology at Duke University Medical Center. Research in the Moody lab is focused on understanding the B cell responses during infection, vaccination, and disease. The lab has become a resource for human phenotyping, flow characterization, staining and analysis at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI). The Moody lab is currently funded to study influenza, syphilis, HIV-1, and emerging infectious diseases.

Dr. Moody is the director of the Duke CIVICs Vaccine Center (DCVC) at (DHVI) and co-director of the Centers for Research of Emerging Infectious Disease Coordinating Center (CREID-CC). Dr. Moody is mPI of a U01 program to develop a syphilis vaccine; this program is a collaboration with mPI Dr. Justin Radolf at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Moody is also the director of the DHVI Accessioning Unit, a biorepository that provides support for work occurring at DHVI and with its many collaborators around the world by providing processing, shipping, and inventory support for a wide array of projects.

Dr. Moody and his team are involved in many networks studying vaccine response including the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers (CIVICs) and the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN).

Dr. Permar's work focuses on the development of vaccines to prevent vertical transmission of neonatal viral pathogens. She has utilized the nonhuman primate model of HIV/AIDS to characterize the virus-specific immune responses and virus evolution in breast milk and develop a maternal vaccine regimen for protection against breast milk transmission of HIV. In addition, Dr. Permar's lab has advanced the understanding of HIV-specific immune responses and virus evolution in vertically-transmitting and nontransmitting HIV-infected women, defining maternal immune responses that may protect against neonatal transmission of HIV. Importantly, Dr. Permar has established a nonhuman primate model of congenital CMV infection adn is using this model to establish the maternal immune responses that are necessary for protection against placental virus transmission. Finally, Dr. Permar is studying the impact and prevention of postnatal CMV transmission in preterm infants.