Lawrence Corey, MD

Dr. Corey's laboratory currently focuses on the immunobiology of HSV-2 infections. He's had a longstanding interest in this area, having had continuous NIH funding since 1978. This program involves clinical investigations of HSV reactivation and transmission, laboratory based studies on the cellular immunology of HSV, and characterization of HSV-HIV interactions. In the last few years, the laboratory has focused on developing an HSV vaccine by defining the T-cell responses to HSV, especially cytotoxic T-cell responses as a means of developing CTL-based vaccines for immunotherapy or prophylaxis of genital HSV. The laboratory has focused on tissue resident T cells and uses a number of recently developed technologies to investigate in situ immune responses to HSV reactivation. These technologies are also adapted to studies of HIV cure. Drs. Jia Zhu, research assistant professor; Dr. David Koelle, professor of Medicine; Keith Jerome, professor of Laboratory Medicine and head of the Diagnostic Virology Division; and Christine Posavad, senior principal research scientist are involved in the laboratory programs. The Clinical Research Program in genital herpes is directed by Dr. Anna Wald, professor of Medicine and Dr. Christine Johnston, assistant professor of Medicine. Dr. Wald is medical director of the Virology Research Clinic, a specialty clinic dedicated to a wide range of clinical studies on HSV infection, including resolution frequency, vaccine efficacy and technology development.

Most recently, the laboratory has been involved with defining the mechanisms by which chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells) kill tumor and HIV targets in vivo. These studies are done in collaboration with investigators in tumor immunity and transplant biology at the Fred Hutch.

Dr. Corey is co-PI of the NIAID supported HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), a global network of clinical trial sites and laboratories dedicated to phase I-III trials of candidate HIV vaccines and other preventative and treatment options. Candidates interested in developing a career in HIV vaccines are available for mentorship by Dr. Corey.

Training opportunities for postdoctoral fellows interested in learning vaccine biology and clinical trial research are available.