Research Laboratories

The Laboratory of Antiviral Drug Discovery conducts research for the development of novel therapeutics against HIV-1 and influenza viruses.

Somatic mutations drive phenotypic changes in cellular behaviors. Mutations to cancer causing tumor driver genes may be acquired years, if not decades before clinical diagnosis of cancer. What happens to the cell and how collective tissue behaviors shape the trajectory of a lethal cancer during a prolonged occult tumorigenic phase is a great mystery. Our lab has developed a set of mouse tools for...

The Cardiovascular Biology Laboratory, under the direction of Bruce Sullenger, is focused on multidisciplinary translational research approaches to the study of blood coagulation, inflammation, and atherogenesis at the molecular level. Novel anti-coagulation approaches developed within the program are presently undergoing pre-clinical and clinical evaluation. Ongoing studies are aimed at...

The research group, under the direction of Dr. Gayathri Devi, focuses on translational and clinical applications of programmed cell death signaling. Cell death is a critical process in tissue sculpting, adult cell homeostasis, for destruction of damaged cells and in pathobiology. We are, in particular, interested in elucidating molecular mechanisms of stress-induced cell survival/death signaling...

The Center for Applied Therapeutics encompasses a broad array of research activities involved in the development, preclinical testing, and clinical testing of novel therapies targeting cancer or precancerous conditions. Collectively, the Center for Applied Therapeutics consists of over 30 individuals ranging from senior scientists to post-doctoral fellows, which serves as a robust environment for...

The Division of Innate and Comparative Immunology (DICI) focuses on delineating innate immune mechanisms, particularly for natural killer (NK) cells and granulocytes, in controlling viral infections and regulating inflammatory immune responses. 

Home to multiple high-power universities, agencies, corporations, and non-profit organizations, the Triangle Area presents an ideal environment for stimulating productive, synergistic, activity exploring environmental aspects of health. Members of the Duke School of Medicine (DSOM) together with investigators at the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment (NSOE), the Duke Law of School, the Duke...

The Laboratory of Immune Responses and Virology is led by Georgia Tomaras, PhD, Director of Research at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute. Dr. Tomaras' overall research program is to understand the cellular and humoral immune response to HIV-1 infection and vaccination that are involved in protection from HIV-1.

The Immune Signatures Laboratory, under the Direction of Dr. Kent J. Weinhold, is the academic home for the Duke Immune Profiling Core (DIPC), a School of Medicine Shared Resource. In addition to their ongoing HIV/AIDS research projects, the laboratory is presently focused on utilizing a comprehensive repertoire of highly standardized and formerly validated assay platforms to profile the human...

The research in our laboratory focuses on the designing and testing of novel vaccines against cancer and viral infections using murine and human assay systems. In a pioneering study, our group demonstrated that dendritic cells, pulsed with unfractionated total RNA isolated from tumor cells, stimulates tumor immunity both in murine tumor models and in vitro human assays. A large number of our pre-...

The overall goal of the laboratory is to understand the ontogeny of HIV-1 specific MHC class I-restricted and non-restricted immune responses that work by eliminating HIV-1 infected cells and how these can be induced by AIDS vaccine candidates. The studies gravitate around class I-mediated cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), gene expression in...

Dr. Montefiori’s major research interests are viral immunology and HIV vaccine development, with a special emphasis on neutralizing antibodies. One of his highest priorities is to identify immunogens that generate broadly neutralizing antibodies for inclusion in vaccines. Many aspects of neutralizing antibodies are studied in his laboratory, including mechanisms of neutralization, viral escape...

Our laboratory studies immunity and inflammation in the context of developing and established cancers. These research interests involve the investigation of immune regulation in cancer and strategies to modulate innate and adaptive immunity against tumors. In these efforts, we principally explore the use of immunotherapeutic modulators against cancer and the development of vaccines and antibodies...