Biography
Dr. Morgane Rolland received her Ph.D. from the University of Bordeaux, France in 2003. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Professor James I. Mullins in the Microbiology department of the University of Washington in Seattle between 2004 and 2010.
Research
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. Meets scientists from the Rolland lab here.
Selected Publications
Mdluli T, Wollen-Roberts S, Merbah M, Beckman B, Li Y, Alrubayyi A, Curtis DJ, Shubin Z, Barrera MD, Boeckelman J, Duncan S, Thapa P, Kim D, Costanzo MC, Bai H, Dearlove BL, Hooper JW, Kwilas SA, Paquin-Proulx D, Eller MA, Eller LA, Kibuuka H, Mwesigwa B, Kosgei J, Sawe F, Oyieko J, Ntinginya N, Mwakisisile J, Jani I, Viegas E, Iroezindu M, Akintunde A, Paolino K, Robb ML, Ward L, McLean C, Luhn K, Robinson C, Ake JA, Rolland M. Ebola virus vaccination elicits Ebola virus-specific immune responses without substantial cross-reactivity to other filoviruses. Sci Transl Med. 2025 Apr 2;17(792):eadq2496. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adq2496. Epub 2025 Apr 2. PubMed PMID: 40173257.
Mdluli T, Slike BM, Curtis DJ, Shubin Z, Tran U, Li Y, Dussupt V, Mendez-Rivera L, Pinyakorn S, Stieh DJ, Tomaka FL, Schuitemaker H, Pau MG, Colby DJ, Kroon E, Sacdalan C, de Souza M, Phanupak N, Hsu DC, Ananworanich J, Ake JA, Trautmann L, Vasan S, Robb ML, Krebs SJ, Paquin-Proulx D, Rolland M. Mosaic vaccine-induced antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis associated with delayed HIV-1 viral load rebound post treatment interruption. Cell Rep. 2024 Jun 25;43(6):114344. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114344. Epub 2024 Jun 8. PubMed PMID: 38850529; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11298786.
Bai H, Lewitus E, Li Y, Thomas PV, Zemil M, Merbah M, Peterson CE, Thuraisamy T, Rees PA, Hajduczki A, Dussupt V, Slike B, Mendez-Rivera L, Schmid A, Kavusak E, Rao M, Smith G, Frey J, Sims A, Wieczorek L, Polonis V, Krebs SJ, Ake JA, Vasan S, Bolton DL, Joyce MG, Townsley S, Rolland M. Contemporary HIV-1 consensus Env with AI-assisted redesigned hypervariable loops promote antibody binding. Nat Commun. 2024 May 9;15(1):3924. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48139-x. PubMed PMID: 38724518; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11082178.
Lewitus E, Li Y, Bai H, Pham P, Rolland M. HIV-1 Gag, Pol, and Env diversified with limited adaptation since the 1980s. mBio. 2024 Mar 13;15(3):e0174923. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01749-23. Epub 2024 Feb 8. PubMed PMID: 38329340; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10936417.
Mdluli T, Li Y, Pinyakorn S, Reeves DB, Cardozo-Ojeda EF, Yates A, Intasan J, Tipsuk S, Phanuphak N, Sacdalan C, Colby DJ, Kroon E, Crowell TA, Thomas R, Robb ML, Ananworanich J, de Souza M, Phanuphak P, Stieh DJ, Tomaka FL, Trautmann L, Ake JA, Hsu DC, Francisco LV, Vasan S, Rolland M. Acute HIV-1 infection viremia associate with rebound upon treatment interruption. Med (N Y). 2022 Sep 9;3(9):622-635.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.medj.2022.06.009. Epub 2022 Jul 22. PubMed PMID: 35870446; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9464709.
Lewitus E, Townsley SM, Li Y, Donofrio GC, Dearlove BL, Bai H, Sanders-Buell E, O'Sullivan AM, Bose M, Kibuuka H, Maganga L, Nitayaphan S, Sawe FK, Eller LA, Michael NL, Polonis VR, Ake JA, Vasan S, Robb ML, Tovanabutra S, Krebs SJ, Rolland M. HIV-1 infections with multiple founders associate with the development of neutralization breadth. PLoS Pathog. 2022 Mar;18(3):e1010369. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010369. eCollection 2022 Mar. PubMed PMID: 35303045; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8967031.
Mdluli T, Jian N, Slike B, Paquin-Proulx D, Donofrio G, Alrubayyi A, Gift S, Grande R, Bryson M, Lee A, Dussupt V, Mendez-Riveria L, Sanders-Buell E, Chenine AL, Tran U, Li Y, Brown E, Edlefsen PT, O'Connell R, Gilbert P, Nitayaphan S, Pitisuttihum P, Rerks-Ngarm S, Robb ML, Gramzinski R, Alter G, Tovanabutra S, Georgiev IS, Ackerman ME, Polonis VR, Vasan S, Michael NL, Kim JH, Eller MA, Krebs SJ, Rolland M. RV144 HIV-1 vaccination impacts post-infection antibody responses. PLoS Pathog. 2020 Dec 8;16(12):e1009101. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009101. eCollection 2020 Dec. PMID: 33290394.
Janes H, Herbeck JT, Tovanabutra S, Thomas R, Frahm N, Duerr A, Hural J, Corey L, Self SG, Buchbinder SP, McElrath MJ, O'Connell RJ, Paris RM, Rerks-Ngarm S, Nitayaphan S, Pitisuttihum P, Kaewkungwal J, Robb ML, Michael NL, Mullins JI, Kim JH, Gilbert PB, Rolland M. HIV-1 infections with multiple founders are associated with higher viral loads than infections with single founders. 2015. Nature Medicine.
Rolland M., Edlefsen PT., Larsen BB., Tovanabutra S., Sanders-Buell E., Hertz T., DeCamp AC., Carrico C., MenisS., Magaret CA., Ahmed H., Juraska M., Chen L., Konopa P., Nariya S., Stoddard JN., Wong K., Zhao H., Deng W., Maust BS., Bose M., Howell S., Bates A., Lazzaro M., O'Sullivan A., Lei E., Bradfield A., Ibitamuno G., Assawadarachai V., O'Connell RJ., DeSouza MS., Nitayaphan S., Rerks-Ngarm S., Robb ML., McLellan JS., Georgiev I.,Kwong PD., Carlson JM., Michael NL., Schief WR., Gilbert PB., Mullins JI., Kim JH. Increased HIV-1 vaccine efficacy against viruses with genetic signatures in Env V2. 2012. Nature.
Rolland M., Tovanabutra S., deCamp A.C., Frahm N., Gilbert P.B., Sanders-Buell E., Heath L., Magaret C., Bose M., Bradfield A., O’Sullivan A., Crossler J., Jones T., Nau M., Wong K., Zhao H., Raugi D.N., Sorensen S., Stoddard J.N., Maust B.S., Deng W., Hural J., Dubey S., Michael N.L., Shiver J., Corey L., Li F., Self S.G., Kim J., Buchbinder S., Casimiro D.R., Robertson M.L., Duerr A., McElrath M.J., McCutchan F.E., and Mullins J.I. Genetic impact of vaccination on breakthrough HIV-1 sequences from the Step trial. 2011. Nature Medicine.
Complete list of published work:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/morgane.rolland.1/bibliography/public/