Caroline Kikawa

So honored to have received this award! Thank you to Experiment Foundation and @navigationfund

We have posted data providing real-time measurement of human neutralizing antibody landscape to seasonal influenza Data explain spread of subclades K (H3N2) & D.3.1.1 (H1N1), identify subclade K subvariants w reduced neutralization & can inform choice of strains for next vaccine

In new study led by @CKikawa, we provide near real-time data on human neutralizing antibody landscape to influenza by measuring ~26,000 titers to >100 recent viral strains. Data can inform vaccine selection & evolutionary/epidemiological modeling. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

In new study led by @timcyuu, we measure how mutations to H3 flu HA affect cell entry, stability & antibody escape We find pleiotropic effects of mutations on these phenotypes shape evolution: epistasis alleviates cell-entry but not stability constraints biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

In study led by @CKikawa & Andrea Loes, we use new assay to measure ~10,000 neutralization titers to recent influenza strains & show titers correlate w evolutionary success of viral strains Similar data could help forecast evolution for vaccine selection biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

In new study led by Andrea Loes, we develop sequencing-based neutralization assay that measures replicate curves for hundreds of virus-serum pairs per 96-well plate (see image below) biorxiv.org/content/10.110… We apply assay to characterize response to repeat influenza vaccination

Thanks to awesome mentors Jesse and Leslie, collaborator @mateoinnyc, super lab mates Catiana, Jackson, @maya_contr, @LisaLevoir. Excited for the rest of grad school!

Overall, we found broad antibodies are harder to escape than targeted antibodies. We hope these data and further efforts to characterize Zika and dengue antigenicity aid vaccine/drug design. Here are some other highlights from our paper. If you get a chance, please check it out!

My first, first-author research article was published yesterday in @JVirology! doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01… Excited to share our work measuring the effects of single flavivirus mutations on antibody neutralization, led by me w/ @jbloom_lab and @lesliegoo_lab guidance 🧵...