My research has focused on understanding infectious disease dynamics, in particular for HIV-1, and translating this knowledge to develop vaccines and therapeutic interventions. We pioneered sieve analyses of HIV-1 breakthrough infections showing that vaccines could have a genetic impact on breakthrough viruses found in vaccine recipients. My lab includes scientists with expertise in molecular biology, evolutionary biology, population genetics, structural bioinformatics, immunology, mathematical modeling and statistics. We measure and analyze pathogen sequences and specificities of the antibody landscape to model the interplay between evolutionary dynamics and the host immune pressure in the context of natural infection, remission studies or vaccination.
| Lewitus E, Li Y, Bai H, Pham P, Rolland M. HIV-1 Gag, Pol, and Env diversified with limited adaptation since the 1980s. mBio. 2024 Mar 13;15(3):e0174923. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01749-23. Epub 2024 Feb 8. PubMed PMID: 38329340; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10936417. |
| Juraska M, Bai H, deCamp AC, Magaret CA, Li L, Gillespie K, Carpp LN, Giorgi EE, Ludwig J, Molitor C, Hudson A, Williamson BD, Espy N, Simpkins B, Rudnicki E, Shao D, Rossenkhan R, Edlefsen PT, Westfall DH, Deng W, Chen L, Zhao H, Bhattacharya T, Pankow A, Murrell B, Yssel A, Matten D, York T, Beaume N, Gwashu-Nyangiwe A, Ndabambi N, Thebus R, Karuna ST, Morris L, Montefiori DC, Hural JA, Cohen MS, Corey L, Rolland M, Gilbert PB, Williamson C, Mullins JI. Prevention efficacy of the broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01 depends on HIV-1 envelope sequence features. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Jan 23;121(4):e2308942121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2308942121. Epub 2024 Jan 19. PubMed PMID: 38241441; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10823214. |
| Li Y, Merbah M, Wollen-Roberts S, Beckman B, Mdluli T, Curtis DJ, Currier JR, Mendez-Rivera L, Dussupt V, Krebs SJ, De La Barrera R, Michael NL, Paquin-Proulx D, Eller MA, Koren MA, Modjarrad K, Rolland M. Priming with Japanese encephalitis virus or yellow fever virus vaccination led to the recognition of multiple flaviviruses without boosting antibody responses induced by an inactivated Zika virus vaccine. EBioMedicine. 2023 Nov;97:104815. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104815. Epub 2023 Oct 2. PubMed PMID: 37793212; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10562857. |
| Lewitus E, Bai H, Rolland M. Design of a pan-betacoronavirus vaccine candidate through a phylogenetically informed approach. Sci Adv. 2023 Jan 18;9(3):eabq4149. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abq4149. Epub 2023 Jan 18. PubMed PMID: 36652518; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9848278. |
| Li Y, Merbah M, Wollen-Roberts S, Beckman B, Mdluli T, Swafford I, Mayer SV, King J, Corbitt C, Currier JR, Liu H, Esber A, Pinyakorn S, Parikh A, Francisco LV, Phanuphak N, Maswai J, Owuoth J, Kibuuka H, Iroezindu M, Bahemana E, Vasan S, Ake JA, Modjarrad K, Gromowski G, Paquin-Proulx D, Rolland M. Coronavirus Antibody Responses before COVID-19 Pandemic, Africa and Thailand. Emerg Infect Dis. 2022 Nov;28(11):2214-2225. doi: 10.3201/eid2811.221041. Epub 2022 Oct 11. PubMed PMID: 36220131; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9622245. |
| Lewitus E, Hoang J, Li Y, Bai H, Rolland M. Optimal sequence-based design for multi-antigen HIV-1 vaccines using minimally distant antigens. PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Oct;18(10):e1010624. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010624. eCollection 2022 Oct. PubMed PMID: 36315492; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9621458. |
| Mdluli T, Li Y, Pinyakorn S, Reeves DB, Cardozo-Ojeda EF, Yates A, Intasan J, Tipsuk S, Phanuphak N, Sacdalan C, Colby DJ, Kroon E, Crowell TA, Thomas R, Robb ML, Ananworanich J, de Souza M, Phanuphak P, Stieh DJ, Tomaka FL, Trautmann L, Ake JA, Hsu DC, Francisco LV, Vasan S, Rolland M. Acute HIV-1 infection viremia associate with rebound upon treatment interruption. Med. 2022 Sep 9;3(9):622-635.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.medj.2022.06.009. Epub 2022 Jul 22. PubMed PMID: 35870446; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9464709. |
| Lewitus E, Townsley SM, Li Y, Donofrio GC, Dearlove BL, Bai H, Sanders-Buell E, O'Sullivan AM, Bose M, Kibuuka H, Maganga L, Nitayaphan S, Sawe FK, Eller LA, Michael NL, Polonis VR, Ake JA, Vasan S, Robb ML, Tovanabutra S, Krebs SJ, Rolland M. HIV-1 infections with multiple founders associate with the development of neutralization breadth. PLoS Pathog. 2022 Mar;18(3):e1010369. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010369. eCollection 2022 Mar. PubMed PMID: 35303045; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8967031. |
| Li Y, Bai H, Sanders-Buell E, Dussupt V, Townsley S, Donofrio G, Bose M, O'Sullivan AM, Kibuuka H, Maganga L, Nitayaphan S, Kosgei J, Pitisuttithum P, Rerks-Ngarm S, Eller LA, Michael NL, Robb ML, Ake J, Vasan S, Tovanabutra S, Krebs SJ, Rolland M. Limited Evidence for a Relationship between HIV-1 Glycan Shield Features in Early Infection and the Development" |
Area of Research
Institution Affiliations
HJF Scientific Director and Chief, Viral Genomics Section & Systems Serology Core in support of the WRAIR U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP)