Tuesday, November 27
6:00 pm 

The University Club
219 Benefit Street
Providence, RI 

Note: Video is not available for this event. 

Biography

Jonathan Kurtis, MD, PhD is the Stanley M. Aronson Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Brown. He has subspecialty training in transfusion medicine and coagulation at the Warren Alpert Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Kurtis also directs the Center for International Health Research at Rhode Island Hospital and the Warren Alpert Physician-Scientist MD/PhD and Advanced Training Program.

Since 1993, Dr. Kurtis has studied schistosomiasis and malaria immunity and vaccine development and has led field based data collection in the Philippines, China, Kenya, Tanzania and Brazil. He applies the techniques of molecular biology, immunology and population biology to identify vaccine candidates for both malaria and schistosomiasis in east Africa and the Philippines. By analyzing the relationship between specific immune responses and naturally acquired resistance in endemic populations, Dr. Kurtis identifies and characterizes new vaccine candidates. This work has resulted in the identification of several vaccine candidates for both malaria and schistosomiasis and led to recent publications in high impact journals, including Science. Dr. Kurtis is currently shepherding his vaccine candidates through non-human primate trials towards Phase I trials in humans.

Overview

A child dies from malaria every 15-60 seconds, making it the greatest single-agent killer of children on the planet. Unlike infections such as Ebola and Zika, malaria has been killing children at this rate for tens of thousands of years. Malaria affects the world’s most impoverished populations, resulting in a child mortality rate as high as 25% in some areas. No society can thrive in the face of such an aggressive adversary. Vaccines for malaria are urgently needed, however over 4 decades of effort have failed to produce a highly effective deployable vaccine.

To address this health catastrophe, Dr. Kurtis and his colleagues apply the techniques of molecular biology, immunology and population biology to identify novel vaccine candidates for malaria. By analyzing the relationship between specific immune responses and naturally acquired resistance in endemic populations in East Africa, Dr. Kurtis identifies and characterizes new vaccine candidates. This work has resulted in the identification of several vaccine candidates for malaria and led to recent publications in high impact journals, including Science. Dr. Kurtis is currently shepherding these vaccine candidates through non-human primate trials towards Phase I trials in humans.