UTMB alumna Janet Yamamoto recently spoke about her groundbreaking work on the development of an HIV vaccine at the Infectious Diseases and Immunity Colloquium hosted by the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.
Yamamoto co-created the first vaccine for feline immunodeficiency virus, which is the cat version of HIV. Yamamoto explained how she is using the knowledge that she gained in developing the FIV vaccine as a platform for the creation of an HIV vaccine.
Previous attempts to develop an HIV vaccine have been based on antibodies, but Yamamoto’s research is based on T-cells, a white blood cell that offensively protects the body’s immune system. She discovered an area of FIV that activates human T-cells to kill HIV. A protein in FIV activates an immune response in HIV-infected blood.
Yamamoto is still in the research and discovery phase of her study, working solely with feline models at the moment. She has not yet begun testing her vaccine on HIV-infected humans.
Monique Ferguson, director of the HIV Pathogenesis Laboratory and associate professor at UTMB, attended the presentation and was intrigued by Yamamoto’s research. “It was outstanding–it will have a great impact worldwide,” she said.
“The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is very proud to count Dr. Yamamoto as one of our most successful alumni,” said David Niesel, vice president and dean of the GSBS. “Her remarkable discovery of the FIV vaccine demonstrates the solid education and training she received at UTMB. The platform she used, along with her excellent cooperative research skills, persistence and hard work, enabled her to see her vaccine project through to commercialization.”
Yamamoto obtained her Ph.D. in microbiology/immunology from the UTMB Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 1981. She is currently a professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida.