Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Individuals infected with human herpesviruses, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), remain infected for life with dormant, latent virus. CMV is one of the most clinically impactful herpesviruses as reactivation of latent virus in pregnant women can lead to severe birth defects and lifelong impairment for their newborn. Over 50% of North American adults are infected with CMV, so a vaccine is needed to target the latent virus and prevent its reactivation. One strategy that has worked against the herpesvirus that causes Shingles is to create a vaccine targeting proteins produced by the latent virus that help it evade the human immune system. Indeed, an effective vaccine against these viral immune evasion proteins would elicit the production of antibodies that block their effects and allow immune cells to clear away the latent virus. However, in order to design such a vaccine for CMV, a comprehensive understanding of these viral proteins is needed, yet currently lacking. Therefore, I aim to analyze the structure and function of these viral proteins to figure out how they work on a molecular level. I will also examine antibodies that are able to bind to these viral immune evasion proteins to learn about the features of protective antibodies and what makes them effective. The knowledge that I obtain through my work will be used by a team of computational experts to design novel vaccine particles. I will contribute to the evaluation of these vaccine molecules by analyzing their structure and function, and the molecular features of the antibodies that they elicit in immunization studies that my collaborators will perform in animal models. Overall, my research will be essential for the creation of a novel vaccine that prevents the reactivation of latent CMV.