Area of Research: HIV/AIDS Dr. Robinson is Chief of the Division of Microbiology and Immunology at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University. She received her undergraduate training at Swarthmore College and her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the 1980s she worked on retroviral-induced cancers and made seminal contributions demonstrating the role of proviral insertions and viral transductions in cancer induction. During the 1990s her laboratory discovered DNA vaccines and played a central role in the early development of these vaccines in mouse and macaque models. Most recently her research has focused on the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine using DNA priming and poxvirus boosting. This vaccine development program is a collaborative effort between scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Center for Disease control and Prevention (CDC). She has served on national and international committees for the NIH, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization. She currently serves on the Nominating Committee of the American Society of Microbiology, the Board of Governors for the American Academy of Microbiology and as a consultant for the Gates Foundation HIV Enterprise. In January of 2003, the Emory/NIAID/CDC HIV/AIDS vaccine entered clinical trials in humans through the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Research
The current research effort of the Robinson laboratory is focused on the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine. The vaccine consists of DNA priming followed by boosting with recombinant modified vaccinia Ankara (rMVA) (DNA/MVA vaccine). Both the DNA and MVA components of the vaccine express the three major proteins of immunodeficiency viruses : Gag, Pol and Env. The vaccine elicits high levels of anti-viral T cells as well as protective anti-Env antibody. Work on the vaccine is a collaborative effort between researchers in the Robinson and Amara laboratories at the Emory Vaccine Center, researchers in Dr. Bernard Moss’s laboratory at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and researchers in Dr. Tom Folks’ branch of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). DNA/MVA vaccines have been developed for subtype B HIV-1, the predominant subtype of HIV-1 in North America and Europe; for an AG recombinant virus that is prevalent in west Africa; and for subtype C HIV-1, the predominant subtype in southern Africa and in India. The overall goal is to have a trivalent vaccine that will be effective for worldwide use. The subtype B DNA entered phase I trials in humans in 2003. The basic research effort of the laboratory is focused on the development of the neutralizing antibody component for the DNA/MVA vaccine. The laboratory is funded by two program project grants. One of these supports detailed studies on promoter development and the effects of vaccine formulations on the establishment of memory immune responses. The second supports studies to identify immunogens and immunization regimens capable of raising cross-reactive neutralizing antibody. Preclinical vaccine studies are done in mice as well as in macaques. The macaque studies, which allow immunodeficiency virus challenges, have been particularly important for identifying immunogens and immunization regimens that can control immunodeficiency virus challenges.
|
Bio |
