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Research Labs: Yaoxing Huang, Ph.D.
The aim of our research is the development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine, which could be used to prevent infection or assist in controlling already established infection. Thus far, our efforts have culminated in a Phase I clinical trial of our DNA vaccine candidate (ADVAX). Although DNA immunization is a promising vaccine strategy, by itself, inoculation with HIV-1 protein-encoding DNA is unlikely to elicit adequate immune responses. We are therefore intently focusing on three areas of HIV-1 vaccine development: 1) enhancing the quality and augmenting the magnitude of immune responses generated by DNA vaccines, 2) designing vaccines that elicit HIV-1 envelope protein-specific antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus, and 3) designing vaccines that leverage fundamental immunologic interactions: a) the relationship between the Fc regions of antibodies and their associated receptors, and b) the interplay between “danger sensing” receptors and the “danger signals” presented by certain pathogens, particularly bacterial flagellin proteins.
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