Medical Virology Section
Jeffrey I. Cohen, M.D.
Chief, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases
Chief, Medical Virology Section
Provides direct clinical care to patients at NIH Clinical Center
Highlights
NIH Scientists Find Weak Points on Epstein-Barr Virus
March 12, 2024
Studies of interactions between two lab-generated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and an essential Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) protein have uncovered targets that could be exploited in designing treatments and vaccines for this extremely common virus. Study findings were published in the journal Immunity.
Experimental Monoclonal Antibodies Show Promise Against Epstein-Barr Virus
October 27, 2022
A panel of investigational monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting different sites of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) blocked infection when tested in human cells in a laboratory setting. Moreover, one of the experimental mAbs provided nearly complete protection against EBV infection and lymphoma when tested in mice. The results appear online today in the journal Immunity.
Major Areas of Research
- Development of vaccines against human herpesviruses
- Development of monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutics against herpesviruses
- Identification of cellular mutations and immune defects in patients with severe herpesvirus infections
- Pathogenesis of human virus infections in vitro and in vivo
Program Description
We study the pathogenesis and clinical aspects of human herpesviruses, especially Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV). The laboratory focuses on vaccine development, discovery of monoclonal antibodies to viral proteins, and identification of cellular mutations in patients with severe herpesvirus infections. Recent findings include development of candidate vaccines for HSV and EBV; identification of cellular genes that predispose to severe EBV infections; and monoclonal antibodies to EBV. Clinical studies include three ongoing trials of EBV nanoparticle vaccines developed in the lab, a trial of norovirus-specific T cells to treat patients with chronic norovirus diarrhea, studies of patients with severe virus infections to define genetic variants associated with the disease, studies of patients with chronic active EBV disease.
Biography
Education
M.D., Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Cohen received his M.D. from The Johns Hopkins University and was a resident in medicine at Duke University. Following a medical staff fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he was a clinical fellow in infectious diseases at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an instructor in medicine at Harvard University. He returned to NIH, where he was the chief of the Medical Virology Section in the Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases until 2010. In June 2010, Dr. Cohen became chief of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases.
Memberships
- American Association of Physicians
- American Society for Clinical Investigation
- Infectious Diseases Society of America
- American Academy of Microbiology
Editorial Boards
- Journal of Virology
- Virology
- Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Virus Genes
- Associate Editor Fields Virology
- Co-editor of Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases
Clinical Trials
Selected Publications
Bu W, Kumar A, Board NL, Kim J, Dowdell K, Zhang S, Lei Y, Hostal A, Krogmann T, Wang Y, Pittaluga S, Marcotrigiano J, Cohen JI. Epstein-Barr virus gp42 antibodies reveal sites of vulnerability for receptor binding and fusion to B cells. Immunity. 2024 Mar 12;57(3):559-573.
Cheung F, Apps R, Dropulic L, Kotliarov Y, Chen J, Jordan T, Langweiler M, Candia J, Biancotto A, Han KL, Rachmaninoff N, Pietz H, Wang K, Tsang JS, Cohen JI. Sex and prior exposure jointly shape innate immune responses to a replication-defective herpesvirus vaccine. ELife, 2023 Jan 17;12:e80652.
Chen WH, Kim J, Bu W, Board NL, Tsybovsky Y, Wang Y, Hostal A, Andrews SF, Gillespie RA, Choe M, Stephens T, Yang ES, Pegu A, Peterson CE, Fisher BE, Mascola JR, Pittaluga S, McDermott AB, Kanekiyo M, Joyce MG, Cohen JI. Epstein-Barr virus gH/gL has multiple sites of vulnerability for virus neutralization and fusion inhibition. Immunity, 2022 Nov 8;55(11):2135-2148.e6.
Wei C-J, Bu W, Nguyen LA, Batchelor J, Kim J, Pittaluga S, Fuller JR, Nguyen H, Chou T-H, Cohen JI*, Nabel GJ*. A bivalent Epstein-Barr virus vaccine induces neutralizing antibodies that block infection and confer immunity in humanized mice. Sci Transl Med. 2022;14(643):eabf3685. *co-corresponding authors
Bu W, Joyce MG, Nguyen H, Banh DV, Aguilar F, Tariq Z, Yap ML, Tsujimura Y, Gillespie RA, Tsybovsky Y, Andrews SF, Narpala SR, McDermott AB, Rossmann MG, Yasutomi Y, Nabel GJ, Kanekiyo M, Cohen JI. Immunization with Components of the Viral Fusion Apparatus Elicits Antibodies That Neutralize Epstein-Barr Virus in B Cells and Epithelial Cells. Immunity. 2019 May 21;50(5):1305-1316.e6.
Research Group
Development of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for human herpesviruses, studies of genetic variants and immune defects in persons with severe virus infections.