1) Unique correlates of human B cell protection: a roadmap to personalized vaccination.

Our goal is to deviate from the prevailing view that assessing the magnitudes of antibody and B cell responses is sufficient to determine a vaccine’s immunogenicity or functionality. Our hypothesis is that each vaccine technology or antigen has unique mechanisms to elicit vaccine functionality; consequently, biological markers in the human host will reflect this. Furthermore, data analyses from Coelho lab will also consider the particularities of vaccine recipients. With the uniqueness of both vaccine technologies and vaccine recipients in mind, we will explore evidence (from our work and others’) demonstrating that antibody genes and B cell phenotypes are uniquely associated with vaccine immune responses, depending on the antigen, vaccine type, or host immune status. Our group will address significant knowledge gaps in vaccinology, such as: a) How does vaccination in different host sites alter the antibody repertoire? b) How does drug treatment or monoclonal antibody passive immunization alter B cell activation? c) Does co-infection with other pathogens affect B cell activation during vaccination? d) How does obesity or immunosuppression alter the B cell response to vaccination? By answering these questions, we will provide novel and impactful information on how different vaccine platforms impact the adaptive immune system and how distinct groups of vaccine recipients (based on immune status, age, race, etc) present diverse immune responses.