Learning how to induce strong adaptive immunity at mucosal surfaces is a priority in pandemic preparedness. The Victora lab will investigate how antibodies of the IgA isotype, the most prevalent class of antibodies in mucosal surfaces, are induced and how they mature to become potent neutralizers of pathogens. They will also investigate vaccination strategies aimed at diverting the highly potent B cell responses induced by SARS-CoV-2 vaccination towards the IgA isotype.
Victora studies the basic biology of how antibodies are generated in response to infection and immunization. This includes the evolutionary process of affinity maturation in germinal centers, which is essential to improve antibodies’ powerful targeting capabilities, and the dynamics with which the diversity of antibody responses are pruned and focused on subsequent exposures.
