Group Leads

	Dan Barouch, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Medicine, HMS Director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, BIDMC Member, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard
	Andrea Carfi, Ph.D. Head of Research, Infectious Disease, Moderna
	Jacob Lemieux, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease, MGH
	Jeremy Luban, M.D. Professor, Program in Molecular Medicine, Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology, UMass Medical School; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard David J. Freelander Chair in AIDS Research, UMass Medical School

The Variants and Vaccines group merges two MassCPR working groups, the Vaccine group formed in 2020 to support research, design, and development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, and the Emerging Variants group formed in 2021 to focus on SARS-CoV-2’s evolving features and changing interactions with its human host.

Members of the Vaccine group played a key role in the development and testing of two SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, both of which were approved under Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  MassCPR members Kizzmekia Corbett (Harvard Chan School of Public Health), Lindsey Baden (Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital), and Andrea Carfi (Moderna), were involved in the development and clinical trials of Moderna’s mRNA-based vaccine, while MassCPR member and professor Dan Barouch (HMS/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) conducted foundational research that enabled the design and subsequent development of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot Ad26 adenovirus-based vaccine.  The approval and deployment of these two vaccines, along with other COVID-19 vaccines, were instrumental in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Variants and Vaccines group meetings regularly draw over 100 attendees from MassCPR participating institutions and beyond, spanning disciplines from virology, epidemiology,  and infectious diseases to immunology, computational biology, molecular biology, and critical care medicine.  Meetings have spotlighted the emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and their sublineages and tracked their behavior and spread in New England and around the world. 

Up-to-the-minute epidemiologic data on VOCs are shared in the form of “Weather Reports.”  Research updates and current manuscripts are discussed in the “Literature Review” segment of the monthly meetings. The second half of each meeting is devoted to an in-depth presentation by an expert on a timely topic.  Scientists from within the group, across the United States, and from around the world, have presented at these sessions, including researchers from Maine, Connecticut, New York, California, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, Brazil, England, Scotland, France, Italy, China, and India. This global exchange has enabled critical sharing of insights, trends and observations from local communities to help elucidate region-specific viral behavior and response.

Members of the Variants and Vaccines group have published extensively and have made significant contributions toward understanding critical aspects of the evolution, epidemiology, and immunobiology of SARS-CoV-2. Going forward, the group’s meetings will expand its focus to include the study of human pathogens beyond SARS-CoV-2, including Mpox, HIV-1, Ebola virus, Lassa fever virus, Nipah virus, Powassan virus, influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, malaria, and Lyme disease.

To request to join a MassCPR group, please fill out this form.