Joshua Tan, Ph.D.
How would you summarize what you currently do at NIAID?
I am a tenure-track investigator and the Chief of the Antibody Biology Unit at the Laboratory of Immunogenetics. The goal of my Unit’s research is to study the antibody response to infectious pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Our research has both basic and translational aspects – one arm of research focuses on understanding how antibodies work, while the other focuses on the discovery of monoclonal antibodies that can be used to prevent disease or as tools to identify new vaccine candidates.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
I talk to my lab members about their work and discuss next steps in their research projects. There’s writing, reading or reviewing papers, and keeping up with the literature in general. And lots of emails.
How long have you been at NIAID and what was your career path to arrive here?
I have been at NIAID for five years. I completed my Ph.D. at the University of Oxford and was a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow prior to arriving at the NIH. My first two years at NIAID were spent as a Guest Researcher in Peter Crompton’s lab, during which I applied for the Stadtman Tenure-track position. I started the Antibody Biology Unit in March 2020, just before the COVID-19 shutdown occurred, so it was quite an unusual experience setting up the lab.
How would you describe the culture at NIAID?
Very collaborative and friendly. I’ve benefited from a lot of good advice from senior NIAID colleagues over the past few years, and having such a concentration of experts in related fields at one institute has been very beneficial in terms of developing new collaborations and moving projects forward.
Are there any special or unique projects that you are working on?
One project that we’re excited about is the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies against coronaviruses. Monoclonal antibodies in the clinic are no longer effective against COVID-19 as they target a part of the spike protein that is highly mutated in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants. We identified monoclonal antibodies that target a different region of the spike and found that these antibodies neutralize all SARS-CoV-2 variants tested, as well as other coronaviruses. We plan to test if these antibodies can prevent or treat COVID-19, and if the targets of these antibodies can be developed as next-generation coronavirus vaccines.
What are your future career goals?
It’s hard to predict the future, but I would be very happy to settle at NIAID as an Investigator and continue research here.
Do you have any advice to offer others who might be considering working at NIAID?
Go for it. I’ve enjoyed working in a number of different settings, but NIAID is my favorite place so far. There is a lot of support and interesting work going on, so there’s plenty of opportunity to collaborate and grow in your research career.