Children’s Research Institute Seminar Series: “Development of a Subunit Vaccine for Chlamydia trachomatis”

Taylor Poston is a chlamydiologist and T cell immunologist interested in translational immunology and vaccinology. His current research is focused in three primary areas: (1) protective immune correlates of chlamydial infection, (2) antigen and biomarker discovery, and (3) adjuvants and immunization strategies to enhance genital tract immunity. In support of his goal, he completed a Masters-level public health training in vaccinology and global infectious disease control, and earned a Ph.D. in Infectious Disease Microbiology, focusing on adaptive immunity against Chlamydia spp. He has gained valuable expertise in infectious disease epidemiology, mouse models of chlamydial genital tract infection, and monitoring the development of adaptive T cell responses. One of the current objectives of his research is to better understand how CD4 T cells and related factors mediate protection against chlamydial infection. During his postdoctoral fellowship, he gained significant vaccinology experience as part of the University of North Carolina Chlamydia Vaccine Initiative (UNC-CVI) where he served as project lead on the pre-clinical testing of viral vector and subunit vaccines in mice. During the last year he developed the conceptual innovation for our first-generation benchmark vaccine incorporating TLR and STING agonists that demonstrates strong immunogenicity and protection against genital Chlamydia infection in female mice. He is currently collaborating with Vaxcyte Inc. on a subunit vaccine using their novel antigen-adjuvant conjugation and cell-free expression technologies. He is also expanding on this work using next generation agonists and novel delivery strategies to improve vaccine efficacy with the goal of phase 1 clinical trials.

Please contact childrensresearch@med.unc.edu for Zoom details.