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Brandi Tranae’ Johnson-Weaver

Assistant Professor in Pathology
Pathology
Box 3712, 346 Davison Building, Durham, NC 27710
40 Medicine Circle, 346 Davison Building, Durham, NC 27710

Overview


Vaccines, as invaluable public health tools, modulate host immune responses to induce prophylactic protection against infectious diseases and also serve as potential therapeutics to treat established diseases, such as food allergies. My research aims to identify environmental exposures that modulate host responses to harmful insults, including pathogens, allergens, and drug abuse while utilizing vaccination to regulate immunity to protect the host from harm. One goal of my research is to identify innovative vaccine strategies that incorporate novel adjuvants and formulations to induce protective immunity against several diseases when applied to a mucosal surface. Our laboratory also focuses on identifying host immune responses that correlate with protection against several diseases, including peanut allergies and opioid use disorder, and developing novel adjuvanted vaccine formulations that enhance the magnitude, durability, and efficacy of protective immunity. We also investigate the innovative contribution of environmental factors on host immune responses, including susceptibility to allergen sensitization and response to immunization. Understanding how or why a particular immune response is induced in a host may lead to developing targeted treatment options that are safer and more effective than current therapies.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor in Pathology · 2025 - Present Pathology, Clinical Science Departments

Recent Publications


A two-dose regimen of Qβ virus-like particle-based vaccines elicit protective antibodies against heroin and fentanyl.

Journal Article bioRxiv · August 29, 2024 Opioid overdoses and the growing rate of opioid use disorder (OUD) are major public health concerns, particularly in the United States. Current treatment approaches for OUD have failed to slow the growth of the opioid crisis. Opioid vaccines have shown pre ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preclinical evaluation of alternatives to oral immunotherapy for food allergies

Journal Article Frontiers in Allergy · October 3, 2023 The increasing food allergy incidence has led to significant interest in developing therapies for allergic diseases. Oral allergen-specific immunotherapy (OIT) is a recently FDA-approved therapeutic to treat peanut allergies. OIT utilizes daily all ... Full text Cite

Delivery of small molecule mast cell activators for West Nile Virus vaccination using acetalated dextran microparticles.

Journal Article Int J Pharm · March 5, 2023 Recently, there has been increasing interest in the activation of mast cells to promote vaccine efficacy. Several mast cell activating (MCA) compounds have been reported such as M7 and Compound 48/80 (C48/80). While these MCAs have been proven to be effica ... Full text Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


ACC Harmonized Adjuvant Comparison Study

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2026

Vaccine Adjuvant Discovery Program

ResearchResearch Scientist · Awarded by University of Montana · 2019 - 2025

Adjuvant Comparison for Peanut Allergy Immunotherapy

ResearchProject Manager · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2025

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Education, Training & Certifications


Duke University, School of Medicine · 2015 Ph.D.