Alexander Kim Rose Hills
Evaluation of Dengue Virus Anti-NS1 Antibody Responses Following Live Attenuated Tetravalent Vaccination in a Clinical Trial
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection endemic in many of the tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world and lacks commercially available vaccines or dengue virus (DENV)-specific chemotherapeutics. During DENV infection, DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is the only secreted nonstructural protein and can be found in the blood of infected individuals from as early as day 1 of symptom onset, and has been hypothesized to contribute to vascular leak during dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. We hypothesize that DENV serotype NS1 specific antibodies may be protective against development of severe disease following heterologous challenge and serve as a correlate of protection during evaluation of clinical vaccine trials. The focus of my project is to evaluate the DENV NS1 serotype cross-reactive between anti-NS1 antibodies following both natural infection and clinical tetravalent vaccine trial.
Message To Sponsor
To be able to conduct research experiments over the summer is an enormous privilege and honor. My sincere gratitude and appreciation goes to the SURF Rose Hills Independent Fellowship for selecting me, and to my mentors Dr. Angela Green and Dr. Eva Harris for their continued involvement and guidance. This summer research fellowship is critical for my development as a burgeoning researcher, and look forward to maximizing the opportunities afforded to me with this fellowship.