Hertz Lab

We are developing computational and experimental tools to study the underlying mechanisms that govern the adaptive immune response in both natural infection and vaccination. We focus on the phenomena of T-cell and B-cell Immunodominance. The nature of our work is translational, integrating the design and application of computational approaches with clinical and laboratory studies that provide data for validating and refining our computational tools.

Current Research Directions:

• Host-pathogen co-evolution through the prism of adaptive immunity

• Effects of immunological history on responses to natural infection and vaccination

• Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) binding prediction and its applications in vaccine design, HLA-viral interactions, and immunodominance

• Adjuvant effects on vaccine-induced immunodominance patterns

• T-cell Sieve analysis of breakthrough infections in vaccine clinical trials