{"662495":{"#nid":"662495","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Proposal by Kathryn Loeffler","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKathryn Loeffler\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBioE PhD Proposal Presentation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime and Date:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;3 PM, Monday, November 7th, 2022\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation: \u003C\/strong\u003EIBB 1128\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EVirtual Link:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/98227695462?pwd=d3luUmxxVTVlN0NWazN6Y3Jsczc2UT09\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/gatech.zoom.us\/j\/98227695462?pwd=d3luUmxxVTVlN0NWazN6Y3Jsczc2UT09\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor:\u003C\/strong\u003E Ravi Kane, Ph.D. (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJohn Blazeck, Ph.D. (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EJulie Champion, Ph.D. (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EM.G. Finn, Ph.D. (Chemistry and Biochemistry)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMark Prausnitz, Ph.D. (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDesigning VLP-based Vaccines for Broad Protection Against Coronaviruses and Influenza\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe design of vaccines that provide broad protection against highly variable viruses such as influenza and coronaviruses poses a significant challenge. Current vaccination methods and natural infection elicit an immune response directed towards variable areas of the virus leading to a narrow response that does not protect against re-infection by similar strains or variants. A vaccine that can provide protection against a broad range of influenza viruses or coronaviruses would be ideal in this situation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn our vaccine constructs, we display the influenza surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) or the coronavirus spike (S) protein (or its subunits) on the surface of virus-like particles (VLPs). We have focused on these proteins due to their critical role in viral attachment and entry into host cells. We have chosen to use VLPs as they are attractive scaffolds for the multivalent display of protein antigens. We have developed and are currently working on several vaccine constructs.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn Aim 1, we developed a vaccine based on the receptor binding domain (RBD) of S, which is the target of many neutralizing antibodies. We have shown that VLPs displaying RBD induce a potent neutralizing response against several SARS-CoV-2 variants. In Aim 2, we are developing a cocktail vaccine containing S proteins from various sarbevoviruses that we expect to elicit a broadly protective antibody response. In Aim 3, we use the S2 domain, a highly conserved region of the S protein, as the antigen in our vaccine. We have shown that this vaccine construct elicits cross-reactive antibodies and provides protection against several SARS-CoV-2 variants as well as a pangolin CoV. In Aim 4, we propose to test whether controlling the orientation of the S and HA proteins on the surface of a VLP will enhance the antibody response to conserved regions of these proteins. For all of these vaccine constructs, we will assess their efficacy in an animal model, including measuring endpoint and neutralization titers and challenging with relevant sarbecoviruses and influenza viruses.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Designing VLP-based Vaccines for Broad Protection Against Coronaviruses and Influenza"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2022-10-24 18:18:22","changed_gmt":"2022-10-24 18:18:22","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2022-11-07T15:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2022-11-07T17:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2022-11-07T17:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2022-11-07 20:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2022-11-07 22:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2022-11-07 22:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"102851","name":"Phd proposal"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}