Designing a Hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine antigen to induce broadly neutralizing antibodies

John Law, PhD
Assistant Professor
Division of BioMedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine

Date: October 21, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. 
Room: CSF 1302

Abstract:

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health concern, the second leading cause of viral hepatitis responsible for one-third of related mortalities, behind only to Hepatitis B virus. While new effective HCV-specific antivirals can cure practically all patients, the incidence of new HCV infections continues to outpace the number of curative treatments in many countries. Furthermore, drug-cured patients are not resistant to re-infection of HCV. Therefore, an effective prophylactic vaccine to prevent HCV is urgently needed. A protective immune response requires a combination of both cellular immunity and neutralizing antibodies. Due to the vast diversity of HCV, the induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies is an important component in a global prophylactic vaccine. My research is focused on understanding the entry process of HCV and the humoral response to the virus. The goal of our research is to apply our findings optimizing the antigen capable of inducing broadly neutralizing antibodies to prevent HCV infection.