UW Medicine Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Directory >> M. Juliana McElrath, MD, PhD

Faculty

M. Juliana McElrath, MD, PhD

  • Professor of Medicine
  • Adjunct Professor, Global Health, Laboratory Medicine
  • University of Washington
  • Senior Vice President and Co-Director, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division
  • Member, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division
  • Member, Clinical Research Division
  • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Dr. McElrath's laboratory research is focused on the identification and characterization of cellular immune responses that may provide protection against HIV infection or disease. Her studies entail understanding immune responses in persons who demonstrate unique control of infection through cohort studies in Seattle and internationally. A major aspect of her studies is to apply these mechanisms of HIV control to HIV vaccine development.

Specific questions under current investigation include:

  1. What components of T cell immunity elicited early in HIV-1 infection contribute to the control of HIV-1 disease?
  2. Do T cell immune responses play a role in resistance to HIV-1 infection in persons repeatedly exposed by sexual contact?
  3. What is the contribution of antigen-specific mucosal T cells in protecting against HIV-1 exposure?
  4. What elements of immunity correlate with protection against HIV-1 infection by vaccination?
  5. How can innate immunity contribute to improved vaccine design.

These studies are performed in collaboration with Drs. Connie Celum, Larry Corey, Steve Self, Tuofu Zhu, James Mullins, Florian Hladik, Nicole Frahm, Jennifer Lund, Martin Prlic, Michael Gale, Thomas Hawn and Steve De Rosa.

Current Studies

Selected Publications

E. Andersen-Nissen, A. Heit and M.J. McElrath. Profiling immunity to HIV vaccines with systems biology. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 7(1):32-37, 2012.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

N. Frahm, A. DeCamp, D.P. Friedrich, D.K. Carter, O.D. Defawe, J. Kublin, D.R. Casimiro, A. Duerr, M.N. Robertson, S. Buchbinder, Y. Huang, G. Spies, S.C. De Rosa and M.J. McElrath. Adenovirus-specific T cells target regions conserved across multiple serotypes and modulate insert-specific immunity following MRKAd5 HIV-1 vaccination. J Clin Immunol. 122(1):359-367, 2012.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

L. Ballweber, B. Robinson, A. Kreger, M. Fialkow, G. Lentz, M.J. McElrath and F. Hladik. Vaginal Langerhans cells non-productively transporting HIV-1 mediate infection of T cells. J Virol. 85(24): 13443-13447, 2011.
[ The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

S.O. Pine, J.G. Kublin, S.M. Hammer, J. Borgerding, Y. Huang, D.R. Casimiro and M.J. McElrath. Pre-existing Adenovirus Immunity Modifies a Complex Mixed Th1 and Th2 Cytokine Response to an Ad5/HIV-1 Vaccine Candidate in Humans. PLoS ONE 6(4): e18526, 2011.
[ The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

M.J. McElrath. Standing guard at the mucosa. Immunity 34(2): 146-148, 2011.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Y. Liu, J.P. McNevin, S. Holte, H. Zhao, M.J. McElrath and J.I. Mullins. Dynamics of viral evolution and CTL responses in HIV-1 infection. PLoS ONE 6(1), e15639, 2011.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

M.J. McElrath and B.F. Haynes. Induction of Long-term Immunity to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 by Vaccination. Immunity 33(4): 542-554, 2010.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

M.J. McElrath. Immune Responses to HIV Vaccines and Potential Impact on Control of Acute HIV-1 Infection. J Infect Dis. 202 Suppl 2:S323-326, 2010.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

L. Corey and M.J. McElrath. HIV vaccines: mosaic approach to virus diversity. Nat Med. 16(3): 268-270, 2010.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

M.J. McElrath, L. Ballweber, A. Terker, A. Kreger, P. Sakchalathorn, B. Robinson, M. Fialkow, G. Lentz, F. Hladik. Ex vivo comparison of microbicide efficacy for preventing HIV-1 genomic integration in intraepithelial vaginal cells. Antimicrob Agents in Chemother. 54(2): 763-772, 2010.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

L. Corey, M.J. McElrath, J.G. Kublin. Post-step modifications for research on HIV vaccines. AIDS. 23(1): 3-8, 2009.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

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