Rolland
Dr. Rolland is interested in better understanding the infectious disease dynamics of emerging human viral pathogens, in particular HIV-1, and translating this knowledge to develop vaccines. The Rolland Lab generates and analyzes molecular sequence data to infer evolutionary and population dynamic processes, while also integrating structural bioinformatics to the analysis of pathogen sequences. Our studies aim to characterize the interplay between evolutionary dynamics and the host immune pressure in the context of natural infection or following vaccination.
The Rolland Lab has pioneered sieve analyses methods, aiding understanding of the genetic consequences of vaccine-induced immune responses in breakthrough infections, thereby providing insights on potential mechanisms of vaccine protection or on risks for future vaccine resistance.
The fact that vaccine efficacy was seen in the absence of high titers of neutralizing antibodies in the context of HIV-1 or Dengue vaccination led us to develop a systems serology platform allowing us to profile Fc-antibody functions. With this approach, the lab integrates data from different immunological assays generated by us or our collaborators using machine learning methods to provide a systems-level understanding of antibody functions.
Dr Rolland’s group includes scientists with expertise in molecular biology, evolutionary biology, population genetics, structural bioinformatics, immunology, mathematical modeling and statistics.
