Posted by: Erica Hensley

Harvill’s research focuses on respiratory diseases and the various interactions that occur when invading pathogens overcome resident microbiota to colonize a host. The only initial  CVI researcher to focus on bacterial rather than viral infection, Harvill has recently looked at the re-emerging and highly contagious whooping cough, caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis   Because whooping cough incidence is increasing in highly vaccinated populations and remains high in developing nations, the disease demands a different approach, he said. So Harvill and his team are thinking outside of the conventional vaccinology wisdom. “It’s absolutely necessary to start with basic biology here—not just vaccines, but immunology,” he said.

Location:  Flinchum’s Phoenix @ Whitehall Forest

650 Phoenix Road

Dr. Mousa will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and a Full Member of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology.  Dr. Mousa received his PhD from the University of Florida under the mentorship of Dr. Steven D. Bruner where trained in biochemistry and structural biology to study the colibactin biosynthetic pathway. I structurally and functionally characterized the 12-transmembrane multidrug and toxic compound extrusion transporter ClbM. I solved the X-ray crystal structure of ClbM in both native and cation-bound states.  He then trained as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Vanderbilt University in the laboratory of Dr. James Crowe in the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center in virology and immunology. At Vanderbilt, he studied the human immune response to Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and related respiratory viruses. He generated and characterized over 100 human monoclonal antibodies to the RSV fusion protein. He is well published with reports in PNAS USA and Nature Microbiology, PLoS ONE. Dr. Mousa will move his laboratory into the newly renovated space in the CVI beginning August, 2017.

Congratulations to Dr. Mark Tompkins, the Principal Investigator for one of the twelve teams at the University of Georgia, was selected to receive a research award through the institution's Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program. More than 150 faculty teams submitted research proposals to this competitive program.  Award Title:  How does microbial diversity impact respiratory infection, disease and transmission?

Congratulations to Dr. Karen Norris!  Dr. Norris was awarded a $885,297 two-year award from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.  Project Title:  Molecular Drivers of Vascular Stiffness and Metabolic Dysfunction in HIV-induced Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH).   The goal of the study is to determine the causative role of YAP and GLS1 for promoting SIV-PAH. Significance: Her team aims to define the crucial molecular controls of pulmonary vascular stiffness and glutaminolysis in HIV-PAH, thus offering fundamental discoveries into the origin of this disease, its molecular connection to other types of PAH, and new therapeutic targets for rapid deployment into human clinical trials.

The Center for Vaccines and Immunology hosted its first annual Symposium on Influenza Antigenic Diversity at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel on March 26-28, 2017.  The Symposium brought world-renowned researchers to Athens to present, review, and discuss the state of influenza diversity and strategies to address viral diversity for therapeutics, vaccines, and public health.  Over the two-day event, 150 researchers attended. The Symposium was supported by contributions from Sanofi Pasteur and Merial.