Lecture Title: Precision Adjuvants: Bringing Precision Medicine to Adjuvant Science
Dr. Ofer Levy is the son of artist Benjamin Levy and music composer Hannah Levy. Born and raised in New York City, he graduated the Bronx High School of Science, Yale College (B.S., Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry), and the MD/PhD Program at NYU. He is currently staff physician in infectious diseases and Director of the Precision Vaccines Program (PVP) at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. The PVP is a multi-disciplinary academic program that fosters international collaboration between academia, government, and industry for development of vaccine formulations optimized to protect vulnerable populations. Dr. Levy’s laboratory is focused on modeling vaccine-induced human immune responses in vitro using a variety of platforms including three-dimensional microphysiologic assays as well as systems biology approaches to accelerate and de-risk development of vaccines optimized for populations with distinct immune responses, including those at the extremes of age who suffer the most infections. Among his collaborative research projects with PVP faculty are NIH/NIAID-supported adjuvant discovery program contracts identifying small molecules that activate innate immunity via Pattern Recognition Receptors and that can serve as stand-alone immune enhancers and vaccine adjuvants. Dr. Levy serves on the U.S. FDA Vaccines & Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee. He has given two TEDx talks and has regularly appeared in major media including BBC, CNN, FoxNews, NBC Nightly News, National Geographic, The New York Times, Scientific American, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife Dr. Sharon Levy and their three children.
Email: ofer.levy@childrens.harvard.edu; X: @PrecVaccvines, @levy_o
