Masaru Kanekiyo, D.V.M., Ph.D.

The Molecular Immunoengineering Section (MIS) at the Vaccine Research Center aims to conceive novel vaccine concepts that elicit broad and potent protective immune responses against influenza virus and provide a mechanistic principle for designing vaccines for other hypervariable pathogens such as coronaviruses and HIV-1. MIS is dedicated to advancing vaccine immunogen design beyond structure-based protein engineering by combining concepts and principles from multiple disciplines, including, but not limited to, immunobiology, biochemistry, biophysics, nanotechnology, and computational biology. The mission of the MIS is to define the fundamental rules behind vaccine-elicited immunity. Our interests span from basic immunology and virology to translational sciences with the goal of advancing vaccine concepts that would radically improve immune responses to vaccines. Our work involves various biochemical, biophysical, structural, immunological, and computational techniques and tools. MIS efforts include development of “supraseasonal” and “pre-pandemic” influenza vaccine candidates, “mosaic” antigen display technology, high-throughput high-definition virus neutralization assay systems, and animal models that recapitulate key aspects of human responses to influenza, such as immunological imprinting, preexisting immunity, antibody specificity and repertoire, immunodominance, and pathogenesis. MIS is also integrated with the VRC’s Influenza Program by serving as the lead of the Vaccine Concepts team. The Influenza Program involves multiple VRC Sections and Programs with the goal of advancing candidate vaccines from bench to clinic.