August 2025 Awards and Accolades

Bertram Jacobs

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Bertram Jacobs, professor of virology in the School of Life Sciences and member of ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center at the Biodesign Institute, received an award from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease for a project titled, “Safer, More Effective Mpox/Smallpox Vaccine.”

Researchers have found that the monkeypox virus (MPXV) is unusual compared to related viruses because it is partly vulnerable to the body’s natural defense system, called type I interferon (IFN). This weakness happens because MPXV has a “broken” version of a protective protein (called F3L), which normally helps viruses hide from the immune system.

In vaccinia virus (VACV), the virus used in smallpox vaccines, this protective protein (E3) works properly, blocking the body from detecting the infection. But in MPXV, the protein is truncated (cut short), so it doesn’t fully work, leaving the virus exposed to immune attack.

The problem is that current vaccines contain the full version of this protective gene. That means, in theory, if someone with MPXV gets vaccinated, the vaccine virus could “repair” MPXV’s weak spot, helping it evade immune defenses again.

To study this, researchers plan to create a special mouse model of MPXV infection. They’ll test different MPXV strains and then evaluate a new type of vaccine. This vaccine is designed so it cannot fix MPXV’s broken gene, making it a potentially safer and more effective option.

Ke Hu

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Ke Hu, professor in the Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution and the School of Life Sciences, was awarded with an award from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for a project titled, “The road from independence to parasitism.”

Chromera velia is a type of photosynthetic algae that lives freely in the environment. Interestingly, it is closely related to apicomplexans, a group of parasites responsible for serious human diseases like malaria and toxoplasmosis. Because Chromera has many similarities to these parasites but does not cause disease, it gives scientists a unique “window” into how harmful parasites may have evolved.

Right now, scientists don’t have the right tools to study how genes work in Chromera, which limits progress. This project aims to fix that. First, researchers will create a detailed map of Chromera’s internal cell structures, focusing on those that resemble structures parasites use to invade host cells. Second, they will develop genetic tools to test the functions of Chromera’s genes.

This work will not only help reveal how deadly parasites like malaria evolved but will also provide new research tools for the broader scientific community studying parasite biology and evolution.