Andrew Flyak, Ph.D.

Research

My group will design an effective vaccine against the hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV is a rapidly mutating virus that uses a viral glycoprotein to recognize and engage with the receptor it needs to enter host cells. This structurally flexible protein, along with HCV’s overall genetic mutability, helps the virus to avoid being recognized by the immune system. However, we recently discovered that people who can spontaneously clear an HCV infection without treatment produce a class of antibodies whose structural flexibility mirrors that of the virus’s receptor-binding protein. Now, using advanced techniques in structural biology, molecular immunology, and artificial intelligence, my lab will design a vaccine that will induce the production of antibodies that can neutralize HCV’s structurally dynamic receptor-binding protein. We will also characterize how these conformationally adaptable antibodies manage to lock onto these structurally dynamic viral proteins, allowing them to “fight fire with fire.” In addition to accelerating development of an HCV vaccine, our work could point toward a new strategy for producing therapeutics against structurally challenging viruses.