Institute members Drs. Lavinder and Ippolito were part of a scientific team at The University of Texas at Austin that has successfully redesigned a key protein from the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The modification could enable much faster and more stable production of vaccines worldwide. This collaborative work was spearheaded by UT Austin professors Jennifer Maynard, Ilya Finkelstein, and Jason S. McLellan,

Institute members Drs. Ippolito and Lavinder, in collaboration with UT Visiting Scientist Dr. Jimmy Gollihar, developed a serological antibody test used by the lead investigators at Houston Methodist Hospital, Drs. Eric Salazar and Jim Musser, for treatment of critically ill COVID-19 patients. This publication marks the country’s first peer-reviewed study of convalescent plasma transfusion therapy for COVID-19.

Institute members Drs. Georgiou and Ippolito were recruited to become part of new collaborative research centers poised to develop the world’s first universal vaccine against influenza. The Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers (CIVICs) are spearheaded by U Georgia–St. Jude (Drs. Ted Ross and Stacey Schultz-Cherry), Duke University (Dr. Tony Moody), and Mt. Sinai–Emory U (Drs. Florian Krammer and Rafi Ahmed).