SARS-CoV-2 has emerged in late 2019 in China and has since then caused a sever pandemic. Early on in the outbreak we have developed serological assays to explore the antibody response to the virus and specifically against its spike protein. So far we have shown that the vast majority if infected individuals, even if only suffering from mild infection, induces robust antibody titers. Titers measured in these binding assays against the spike protein correlate well with neutralizing activity against authentic SARS-CoV-2. While we expect moderate waning of antibodies over time, we have shown that antibody levels are relatively stable over at least 5 months. Studies to characterize long-term antibody kinetics and correlates of protection have been initiated in April of 2020 and are expected to continue for at least 24 months. In addition, we are studying the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination on a polyclonal and monoclonal level both in naïve individuals and in individuals who already had experienced SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Prof. Florian Krammer, PhD, graduated from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria) in 2010. He received his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Palese at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York working on hemagglutinin stalk-based immunity and universal influenza virus vaccines. In 2014 he became an independent principal investigator and is currently Mount Sinai Professor of Vaccinology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Krammer's work focuses on understanding the mechanisms of interactions between antibodies and viral surface glycoproteins and on translating this work into novel, broadly protective vaccines and therapeutics. The main target is influenza virus but he is also working on coronaviruses, flaviviruses, hantaviruses, filoviruses and arenaviruses. He has published more than 240 papers on these topics. Since 2019, Dr. Krammer has served as principal investigator of the Sinai-Emory Multi-Institutional Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Center (SEM-CIVIC), which develops improved seasonal and universal influenza virus vaccines that induce long-lasting protection against drifted seasonal, zoonotic and future pandemic influenza viruses. https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/krammerlab/dr-krammer/

ONLINE VIA ZOOM

Meeting link: https://univienna.zoom.us/j/92576672420?pwd=ZkIvMm1RbUM0aUtGV3VQemRFZXlnUT09

Meeting-ID: 925 7667 2420

Code: 891211