Brandi Tranae’ Johnson-Weaver

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.