H. Sbai, Ph.D.

Position: Senior Post Doctoral Research Fellow Email: hakima_sbai@brown.edu Education: University of Paris, V Ph.D, Vaccines, Immunology 1998                 University of Paris, V Masterís, Biotechnology 1994

Positions and Employment: 1998-2000: Post-doc Scientist; Maxygen, Redwood City, CA. Generation of highly immunogenic HBV vaccines using DNA shufffling technology. 2000- present: Senior Post Doctoral Research Associate, TB/HIV Research Lab, Brown University

Honors: Competitive award from Pasteur Merieux three years in a row 1995 to 1997

Selected peer-reviewed publications:

1. H. Sbai, J. Schneider, A.V. Hill, R.G. Whalen. Role of transfection in the priming of cytotoxic T-cells by DNA-mediated immunization. Vaccine, 2002 Aug 19;20(25-26):3137.

2. H. Sbai, R.G. Whalen. Creation of Superagonist Epitope Sequences in the Hepatitis B Envelope Protein Using Mutagenesis and DNA vaccination. DNA Cell Biol, 2002 Feb;21(2):129-35.

3.H. Sbai, A. Mehta, A. S. De Groot. Use of T cell epitopes for vaccine development. Current Drug Targets-Infectious Disorders, 2001,1, 303-313.

4. K Byrder, H. Sbai, HV Nielsen, S Corbet, C Nielsen, RG Whalen, and A Fomsgaard. Improved immunogenicity of HIV Epitopes in HBsAg Chimeric DNA Vaccine Plasmids by Structural Mutation of HBsAg. DNA and Cell Biology, Volume 18, Number 3, 1999. Pp 219-225.

5. M. Nicodemus, H. Sbai, A. S. De Groot, Urgency and Optimism at the AIDS Vaccine. 2001 Conference AIDScience, Volume 1, Number 11, October 2001

6. A.S. De Groot , H. Sbai, J. Frost, C. Saint-Aubin, N. Chinai, W. Martin, A. Bosma, G. Skowron, K. Mayer. Designing HIV-1 vaccines to reflect viral diversity and the global context of HIV/AIDS, AIDScience, Volume 1, Number 2, 2001.

7. A S. De Groot, Saint Aubin, CS, Bosma, A, Sbai, H, Rayner, J, Martin, W. Rapid Determination of HLA B*07- ligands from the West Nile Virus genome. Emerging Infectious Diseases, Volume 7, Number 4, July-August 2001.

Other:

1. Sbai H. (1998) Contribution to the study of the mechanism of DNA immunization. Doctoral Thesis, University of Paris-V (thesis defended in October 1998).

2. Sbai, H. (1994) Descriptive and comparative study of several antibodies involved in auto-immune myositis. DEA (Master's) Thesis Memoir. University of Paris-V, September 1994

Research Support

Sequella Global TB Foundation (EpiVax Sub) Brining an Epitope Driven Vaccine to Phase I trials. Role: PI, Brown University

More information on her projects can be found at the following websites:

http://www.Brown.edu/Research/TB-HIV_Lab http://www.Brown.edu/Research/Vaccine_Center http://www.HIVcorrections.org http://www.EpiVax.com http://www.GAIAvaccine.org