Nicole Frahm PhD

My research addresses the influence of HIV sequence diversity on its recognition by cytotoxic T lymphocytes, as well as the factors governing the recognition of sequence variants both in HIV-infected subjects and in vaccine trial participants. More recently, my research also includes the assessment of immune responses to viral vectors used as immunogens in HIV vaccine trials to help understand how pre-existing cellular immunity to the vector influences the quality of vaccine-induced immune responses. In my role as the Associate Laboratory Director for the HVTN, I provide leadership and scientific support for the HVTN Laboratories. This includes (but is not restricted to) oversight of the Endpoints Laboratory, which is responsible for the generation of validated immunogenicity data for all HVTN trials, and of the R&D Laboratory, which provides ancillary and exploratory data leading to a more complete view of the immune responses generated by HIV vaccines.