Scientists at Scripps Research are working to develop universal vaccines capable of neutralizing many variants of a given virus.

In recent years, they have made significant progress toward creating universal vaccines for influenza, HIV and coronavirus.

In the third installment of our universal vaccine series, we hear from top scientists in the field about the latest developments in the effort to create universal vaccines for HIV, and the impact these elusive immunizations could have on the world.

William Schief, PhD, and his team are focused on developing an effective HIV vaccine using a novel strategy: eliciting broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). bnAbs are a rare type of antibody that can fight and protect against many different variants of a virus. Researchers have long struggled to identify and induce the appropriate bnAbs for HIV vaccination, but Schief’s lab—in collaboration with many others at Scripps Research—is applying a variety of computation-guided and structure-based design techniques to overcome these historic hurdles.

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