Paul G. Thomas: Quantifying Specific Correlates of Protection for Respiratory Viral Infections

Cellular correlates of protection have been difficult to standardize due to the complexity of most cell-based immune assays.

The diversity of epitopes targeted by T cells across the human population presents another difficulty for assay development due to HLA allelic variation. Here we will describe T cell receptor (TCR)-based methods for analyzing anti-pathogen immune responses and provide evidence that TCR sequencing is a robust, sensitive, and specific approach for defining relevant immune correlates of protection. The implications for vaccine design and assessment will also be discussed.

Programme

• 09:00 Open Doors
• 09:15 Welcome by Florian Krammer
• 09:20 Lecture by Paul Thomas
• 10:00 Questions
• 10:15 Get-2-Together Foyer
• 11:30 Official End

Medical University of Vienna
Jugendstilhörsaal
Rektoratsgebäude BT88
Spitalgasse 23
1090 Vienna

Registration

Paul G. Thomas is a Member of the Department of Host-Microbe Interactions at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. His work focuses on understanding the principles of T-cell receptor recognition and specificity during development, infections, and in tumors. Dr. Thomas obtained his undergraduate degree in Biology and Philosophy at Wake Forest University. His doctoral training at Harvard University focused on the innate immune response to Schistosoma-associated carbohydrates and their role in promoting Th2 responses. After graduate school, he relocated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Peter Doherty on T-cell responses in the influenza model. In 2009 he started his independent lab, from which he has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers on TCR biology, immunological mechanisms of disease severity in human viral infections, and cellular immunology.