HIS Research Group

The Humoral Immunology Section studies the antibody response to HIV-1 and SARS-COV-2 infection or vaccination. Ongoing research focuses on antibody discovery and antibody-virus co-evolution in infected patients or non-human primate models, with the goals of providing templates for vaccine design and antibodies with potential for clinical utility in preventing or treating infection.

Photo of the Humoral Immunology Core and Humoral Immunology Section Research Group

Humoral Immunology Core and Humoral Immunology Section: (left to right) Stephen Schmidt, Nicole Doria-Rose, Yuliya Petrova, Walker Black, John Mascola, Zenia Vrakas, Evan Cale, James DalSanto, Sabrina Bush, Colin Howe, Maryam Mukhamedova, Behnia Rezazadeh Shirazi, Rosemarie Mason, Travis Terry, Kevina Birungi, Hua Wang

Richard Koup, M.D.

Deputy Director, Vaccine Research Center
Chief, Immunology Laboratory and Immunology Section
Acting Chief, Vaccine Immunology Program
Acting Head, Tissue Analysis Core

Contact: rkoup@mail.nih.gov

Education:

M.D., 1982, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
M.S., 1979, University of Connecticut​, Stamford, CT
B.S., 1978, University of Connecticut​, Stamford, CT

Dr. Koup received his B.S. in biophysics in 1978 and his M.S. in biochemistry in 1979 from the University of Connecticut​. He attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he obtained his M.D. in 1982. Dr. Koup served an internship and residency in internal medicine with the Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island, from 1982 to 1985.

Learn more about Richard Koup, M.D.

Richard A. Koup, M.D.

Evan Cale, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist

Contact: evan.cale@nih.gov

Education:

Ph.D., Immunology, 2011, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Dr. Evan Cale is a staff scientist in the Antibody Immunity Section. He earned his Ph.D. in Immunology at Harvard University’s Division of Medical Sciences under the mentorship of Dr. Norman Letvin. He began working at the VRC in 2012 as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of John Mascola, M.D. His work focuses on the isolation and characterization of HIV-1 bNAbs from infected donors using...

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Evan Cale, Ph.D. photographed outside with a large rock and a mountain in the background

Nicole Doria-Rose, Ph.D.

Chief, Antibody Immunity Section
Stadtman Tenure Track Investigator

Contact: doriarosen@mail.nih.gov

Education:

Ph.D., 1998, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Nicole Doria-Rose earned her PhD from Cornell University in 1998, followed by post-doctoral work at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. She has been a researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 2006 and the Vaccine Research Center since 2011. Her goals are to understand the development of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) for HIV and COVID, and to use those insights to develop effective vaccines.

Learn more about Nicole Doria-Rose, Ph.D.

Nicole Doria-Rose, Ph.D.

Maryam Mukhamedova, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Contact: maryam.mukhamedova@nih.gov

Hua Wang, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Contact: hua.wang2@nih.gov

Former Research Group Members

Xueling Wu, Ph.D. - Currently faculty at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center at Columbia University. 

Rebecca Lynch, Ph.D. - Currently faculty at George Washington University 

Rui Kong, Ph.D. - Currently faculty at Emory University 

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