In 2019, Dr. Sandhya Vasan became the Principal Investigator representing HJF for EIDB's cooperative agreement (CA) with the DoD. In addition to overseeing HJF components of the CA, she provides key leadership for EIDB's clinical studies. She has been with EIDB since its inception in 2018, and prior to that she was with WRAIR's Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) in Bangkok, Thailand.
Dr. Vasan obtained her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before completing her M.D. at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard Medical School. After a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, she worked as a Henry Luce Foundation Fellow at the Communicable Disease Centre in Singapore, where she studied patterns of tuberculosis and HIV co-infection and worked with the National University of Singapore to conduct public health surveillance studies in rural Indonesia. From 2002-2011, Dr. Vasan conducted clinical trials and nonhuman primate studies of HIV vaccines and adjuvants and related immunology research at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Rockefeller University.
Dr. Vasan recently served as MHRP’s Associate Director for HIV Vaccine Research, and prior to that she served MHRP at AFRIMS in Bangkok for seven years as Science Director and head of the Nonhuman Primate Laboratory. At AFRIMS, she conducted preventive vaccine trials in follow-up to the RV144 HIV vaccine clinical trial. She also developed animal models to understand the mechanism of action of these vaccines and pursue novel HIV prevention strategies.
Recent Publications
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.
Joyce MG, King HAD, Elakhal-Naouar I, Ahmed A, Peachman KK, Macedo Cincotta C, Subra C, Chen RE, Thomas PV, Chen WH, Sankhala RS, Hajduczki A, Martinez EJ, Peterson CE, Chang WC, Choe M, Smith C, Lee PJ, Headley JA, Taddese MG, Elyard HA, Cook A, Anderson A, McGuckin Wuertz K, Dong M, Swafford I, Case JB, Currier JR, Lal KG, Molnar S, Nair MS, Dussupt V, Daye SP, Zeng X, Barkei EK, Staples HM, Alfson K, Carrion R, Krebs SJ, Paquin-Proulx D, Karasavva N, Polonis VR, Jagodzinski LL, Amare MF, Vasan S, Scott PT, Huang Y, Ho DD, de Val N, Diamond MS, Lewis MG, Rao M, Matyas GR, Gromowski GD, Peel SA, Michael NL, Bolton DL, Modjarrad K. A SARS-CoV-2 ferritin nanoparticle vaccine elicits protective immune responses in nonhuman primates. Sci Transl Med. 2022 Feb 16;14(632):eabi5735. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abi5735. Epub 2022 Feb 16. PubMed PMID: 34914540.
Hsu DC, Chumpolkulwong K, Corley MJ, Hunsawong T, Inthawong D, Schuetz A, Imerbsin R, Silsorn D, Nadee P, Sopanaporn J, Phuang-Ngern Y, Klungthong C, Reed M, Fernandez S, Ndhlovu LC, Paul R, Lugo-Roman L, Michael NL, Modjarrad K, Vasan S. Neurocognitive impact of Zika virus infection in adult rhesus macaques. J Neuroinflammation. 2022 Feb 7;19(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s12974-022-02402-4. PubMed PMID: 35130924; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8822695.
Shepherd BO, Chang D, Vasan S, Ake J, Modjarrad K. HIV and SARS-CoV-2: Tracing a Path of Vaccine Research and Development. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2022 Feb;19(1):86-93. doi: 10.1007/s11904-021-00597-4. Epub 2022 Jan 28. Review. PubMed PMID: 35089535; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8795326.
Shangguan S, Ehrenberg PK, Geretz A, Yum L, Kundu G, May K, Fourati S, Nganou-Makamdop K, Williams LD, Sawant S, Lewitus E, Pitisuttithum P, Nitayaphan S, Chariyalertsak S, Rerks-Ngarm S, Rolland M, Douek DC, Gilbert P, Tomaras GD, Michael NL, Vasan S, Thomas R. Monocyte-derived transcriptome signature indicates antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis as a potential mechanism of vaccine-induced protection against HIV-1. Elife. 2021 Sep 17;10. doi: 10.7554/eLife.69577. PubMed PMID: 34533134; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8514236.
Corley MJ, Sacdalan C, Pang APS, Chomchey N, Ratnaratorn N, Valcour V, Kroon E, Cho KS, Belden AC, Colby D, Robb M, Hsu D, Spudich S, Paul R, Vasan S, Ndhlovu LC. Abrupt and altered cell-type specific DNA methylation profiles in blood during acute HIV infection persists despite prompt initiation of ART. PLoS Pathog. 2021 Aug;17(8):e1009785. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009785. eCollection 2021 Aug. PubMed PMID: 34388205; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8386872.
Hsu DC, Schuetz A, Imerbsin R, Silsorn D, Pegu A, Inthawong D, Sopanaporn J, Visudhiphan P, Chuenarom W, Keawboon B, Shi W, Robb ML, Mascola JR, Geleziunas R, Koup RA, Barouch DH, Michael NL, Vasan S. TLR7 agonist, N6-LS and PGT121 delayed viral rebound in SHIV-infected macaques after antiretroviral therapy interruption. PLoS Pathog. 2021 Feb;17(2):e1009339. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009339. eCollection 2021 Feb. PubMed PMID: 33600506; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7924766.
Pitisuttithum P, Nitayaphan S, Chariyalertsak S, Kaewkungwal J, Dawson P, Dhitavat J, Phonrat B, Akapirat S, Karasavvas N, Wieczorek L, Polonis V, Eller MA, Pegu P, Kim D, Schuetz A, Jongrakthaitae S, Zhou Y, Sinangil F, Phogat S, Diazgranados CA, Tartaglia J, Heger E, Smith K, Michael NL, Excler JL, Robb ML, Kim JH, O'Connell RJ, Vasan S. Late boosting of the RV144 regimen with AIDSVAX B/E and ALVAC-HIV in HIV-uninfected Thai volunteers: a double-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet HIV. 2020 Apr;7(4):e238-e248. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3018(19)30406-0. Epub 2020 Feb 6. PubMed PMID: 32035516; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7247755.
Hsu DC, Sunyakumthorn P, Wegner M, Schuetz A, Silsorn D, Estes JD, Deleage C, Tomusange K, Lakhashe SK, Ruprecht RM, Lombardini E, Im-Erbsin R, Kuncharin Y, Phuang-Ngern Y, Inthawong D, Chuenarom W, Burke R, Robb ML, Ndhlovu LC, Ananworanich J, Valcour V, O'Connell RJ, Spudich S, Michael NL, Vasan S. Central Nervous System Inflammation and Infection during Early, Nonaccelerated Simian-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Rhesus Macaques. J Virol. 2018 Jun 1;92(11). doi: 10.1128/JVI.00222-18. Print 2018 Jun 1. PubMed PMID: 29563297; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5952152.
Vasan S, Hurley A, Schlesinger SJ, Hannaman D, Gardiner DF, Dugin DP, Boente-Carrera M, Vittorino R, Caskey M, Andersen J, Huang Y, Cox JH, Tarragona-Fiol T, Gill DK, Cheeseman H, Clark L, Dally L, Smith C, Schmidt C, Park HH, Kopycinski JT, Gilmour J, Fast P, Bernard R, Ho DD. In vivo electroporation enhances the immunogenicity of an HIV-1 DNA vaccine candidate in healthy volunteers. PLoS One. 2011;6(5):e19252. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019252. Epub 2011 May 16. PubMed PMID: 21603651; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3095594.