
Dr. Montefiori is Professor and Director of the Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine Research and Development in the Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Sciences, Duke University Medical Center. His major research interests are viral immunology and AIDS vaccine development, with a special emphasis on neutralizing antibodies. One of his highest priorities is to identify immunogens that generate broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies for inclusion in HIV vaccines. Many aspects of the neutralizing antibody response are studied in his laboratory, including mechanisms of neutralization and escape, epitope diversity among genetic subtypes and geographic origins, ontogeny of broadly neutralizing antibody responses and computationally-assisted vaccine design. Over the years he has explored multiple types of assays for neutralizing antibodies and other potential antiviral antibodies, focusing on assay optimization, standardization, validation and high throughput. The scope of research covers HIV-infected individuals and nonhuman primate models of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) infection. Dr. Montefiori also directs a large AIDS vaccine immune monitoring program, which operates in compliance with Good Clinical Laboratory Practice and has served as a national and international resource for standardized assessments of neutralizing antibody responses in preclinical and clinical trials of candidate AIDS vaccines since 1988. In 2002 he chaired the Antibody Laboratory Standardization Working Group that assisted in the design of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Strategic Plan for HIV vaccines. He currently directs the Core Neutralizing Antibody Laboratories for the HIV Vaccine Clinical Trials Network (HVTN), the NIH Preclinical HIV-1 Vaccine Program and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology- Immunogen Design (CHAVI-ID). He also directs a large Comprehensive Antibody Vaccine Immune Monitoring Consortium (CAVIMC) as part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD). He has published over 500 original research papers that have helped shape the scientific rationale for antibody-based HIV-1 vaccines.
Education and Training
- Ph.D., Clemson University, 1982
In the News
- Global List of Highly Cited Puts Duke in Top TenNovember 19, 2019
- Duke Faculty Plentiful On ‘Highly Cited’ ListNovember 27, 2018
- Antibodies prevent HIV infection in monkeysApril 29, 2016
Selected Grants
- Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS
- Neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibody effector functions in HIV infected children
- Duke CTSA (TL1)
- EQAPOL SARS CoV-2 EQA Option 42
- CAVIMC 2016-2021 Grant Renewal
- NIAID Virology Quality Assurance - Options 27 Only
- Role of neutralizing antibodies in HIV-1-infected and vaccinated mothers in MTCT
- Primate Contract Expansion for Covid-19
- Nonhuman Primate Option 2
- CoVPN 5001 A prospective study of acute immune responses to SARS-CoV2 infection - LAB
- HVTN 405/HPTN 1901 Characterizing SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity in convalescent individuals: LC
- Protocol Development Assays
- HVTN Laboratory Center: HVTN 704
- HVTN Laboratory Center: HVTN Phase 1
- HVTN Laboratory Center: HVTN 117
- HVTN Laboratory Center: HVTN 118
- RAMP Scholar Award Shay Behrens
- HIV Vaccine Trials Network: LC P5 PF
- Nonhuman Primate Core-Option 6
- Option 13 Non Human Primate Core
- Option 19 Non Human Primate Core
- HIV Vaccine Trials Network: LC P5 PF
- LC: HIV Vaccine Trials Network: Phase 1 PF
- HIV Envelope-specific functional antibody responses in HIV-exposed, HIV-vaccinated infants
- Methods to Determine HIV Transport and Inactivation by Microbicide Coating Layers
- Nonhuman Primate Core Humoral Immunology Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine Research and Development
- Central Laboratory for the HIV Vaccines Trial Network
- A Universal Env Immunogen for all HIV-1 Subtypes
- Same
- Host Virus Interactions During Acute Infection
- Perform Neutralizing Assays On Hiv,Siv,And Shiv, And Adopt