The Barouch Laboratory
Total Hours: 10
I began by completing intensive training in lab safety and equipment before stepping into a high-containment research environment working with live viruses such as Tuberculosis and HIV. From there, I had the opportunity to observe cutting-edge procedures including ELISAs to measure antibody responses, and maxi preps used to amplify DNA for pilot mRNA vaccine development. Eventually, I conducted my own ELISAs as part of a mouse vaccine study, analyzing antibody responses in immunized mice and contributing directly to immunology research.
ELISA Overview
Study 68
Study 68, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, is an investigation into the potential use of nanoparticle technology combined with broadly neutralizing antibodies as a vaccine platform for HIV. I was involved in collecting data for week 40 of the study, after the Guinae Pigs had already received an immunization, to test the longevity and durability of the antibody response.
My Data
Data Table
The threshold for measuring response is 0.2. The numbers on the left correspond to the serial dilution.
Graph
When the data is the table is graphed, typical antibody response looks something like this.
Weekly Antibody Response
It is important to place the antibody response in the context of other weeks.