Area of Research: HIV/AIDS Dr. Garber is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. He earned his PhD in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University, and completed his post-doctoral training at Emory University. Research Our laboratory is focused on the development of safe, simple, and highly immunogenic vaccines against AIDS and smallpox. Toward this end, we are generating vaccines that are derived from an attenuated orthopoxvirus, Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA). We are taking an approach to enhance the immunogenicity of MVA-based vaccines through genetic modification of the MVA vector. These genetic modifications include deletion of relevant poxvirus genes (eg immune-evasion genes and DNA-replication genes) and insertion of genes encoding immunostimulatory molecules or factors that modulate apoptosis of infected cells. The rationale for these modifications comes from our basic studies of the molecular and cellular interactions between poxviruses and their hosts. A particular focus of these studies is to understand the pathways of poxvirus antigen presentation, which are likely to be of central importance in maximizing the magnitude and longevity of host immune responses to vaccination. Our MVA-based vaccine candidates are systematically evaluated in murine and non-human primate pre-clinical immunization models for their ability to elicit potent and durable antiviral cellular immune responses as well as antiviral humoral immunity. In addition to their potential usefulness as AIDS and smallpox vaccines, these vectors can be developed as candidate vaccines against other heterologous infectious diseases.
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