Biography
Sandhya Vasan, M.D., is HJF's Chief Medical and Science Officer, advising HJF leadership and staff on medical and scientific work conducted by the foundation, including sponsorship of clinical trials. In addition, as Senior Vice President of Global Infectious Diseases Portfolio, Dr. Vasan provides key leadership on a wide array of basic and clinical studies including research on vaccines and monoclonal antibodies to prevent and treat HIV, Lassa virus, and other global infectious diseases.
Dr. Vasan obtained her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before completing her M.D. at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard Medical School. After a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, she worked at the Communicable Disease Centre and National University of Singapore. From 2002-2011, Dr. Vasan conducted clinical and animal studies of HIV vaccines and adjuvants at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Rockefeller University.
Dr. Vasan joined HJF through the U.S. Military HIV Research Program in 2011 and spent seven years at the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Bangkok, Thailand, conducting clinical trials of therapeutic interventions and preventive vaccines while establishing and leading a nonhuman primate research laboratory. She later served as MHRP’s Associate Director for HIV Vaccine Research and Director of the HJF component of MHRP.
She serves on external Scientific Advisory Boards, Data Safety Monitoring Boards, the Board of Directors for CAMRIS International, LLC and on the Good Participatory Practices Advisory Committee for the Coalition to Accelerate and Support Prevention Research (CASPR) at the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC).
Recent Publications
Costanzo MC, Paquin-Proulx D, Schuetz A, Akapirat S, Shubin Z, Kim D, Wieczorek L, Polonis V, Trinh H, Rao M, Anenia H, Barrera MD, Boeckelman J, Nails B, Thapa P, Zemil M, Sacdalan C, Kroon E, Kaewboon B, Tipsuk S, Jongrakthaitae S, Gurunathan S, Sinangil F, Kim JH, Robb ML, Ake JA, O'Connell RJ, Pitisutthithum P, Nitayaphan S, Chariyalertsak S, Eller MA, Phanuphak N, Vasan S, for the RV306 and RV328 Study Groups. ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX® B/E vaccination induce improved immune responses compared to AIDSVAX® B/E vaccination alone. JCI insight, 2023.
Shangguan S, Ehrenberg PK, Geretz A, Butler L, Pinyakorn S, Sriplienchan S, Sacdalan C, Chomchey N, Phanuphak N, Tovanabutra S, Vasan S, Hsu D, Thomas R. HLA-B*57 and B*58 Associate with Predictors of Reservoir Size in an Acutely Treated HIV Cohort. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2023 Mar;39(3):114-118. doi: 10.1089/AID.2022.0082. Epub 2023 Jan 10. PubMed PMID: 36465028; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9986004.
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. 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.
Li SS, Hickey A, Shangguan S, Ehrenberg PK, Geretz A, Butler L, Kundu G, Apps R, Creegan M, Clifford RJ, Pinyakorn S, Eller LA, Luechai P, Gilbert PB, Holtz TH, Chitwarakorn A, Sacdalan C, Kroon E, Phanuphak N, de Souza M, Ananworanich J, O'Connell RJ, Robb ML, Michael NL, Vasan S, Thomas R. HLA-B∗46 associates with rapid HIV disease progression in Asian cohorts and prominent differences in NK cell phenotype. Cell Host Microbe. 2022 Aug 10;30(8):1173-1185.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2022.06.005. Epub 2022 Jul 15. PubMed PMID: 35841889; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9380401.
Fletcher CV, Kroon E, Schacker T, Pinyakorn S, Chomont N, Chottanapund S, Prueksakaew P, Benjapornpong K, Buranapraditkun S, Phanuphak N, Ananworanich J, Vasan S, Hsu D. Persistent HIV transcription and variable antiretroviral drug penetration in lymph nodes during plasma viral suppression. AIDS. 2022 Jun 1;36(7):985-990. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003201. Epub 2022 Feb 18. PubMed PMID: 35184069; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9167254.
Corley MJ, Sacdalan C, Pang APS, Chomchey N, Ratnaratorn N, Valcour V, Kroon E, Cho KS, Belden AC, Colby D, Robb M, Hsu D, Spudich S, Paul R, Vasan S, Ndhlovu LC. Abrupt and altered cell-type specific DNA methylation profiles in blood during acute HIV infection persists despite prompt initiation of ART. PLoS Pathog. 2021 Aug;17(8):e1009785. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009785. eCollection 2021 Aug. PubMed PMID: 34388205; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8386872.
Pitisuttithum P, Nitayaphan S, Chariyalertsak S, Kaewkungwal J, Dawson P, Dhitavat J, Phonrat B, Akapirat S, Karasavvas N, Wieczorek L, Polonis V, Eller MA, Pegu P, Kim D, Schuetz A, Jongrakthaitae S, Zhou Y, Sinangil F, Phogat S, Diazgranados CA, Tartaglia J, Heger E, Smith K, Michael NL, Excler JL, Robb ML, Kim JH, O'Connell RJ, Vasan S. Late boosting of the RV144 regimen with AIDSVAX B/E and ALVAC-HIV in HIV-uninfected Thai volunteers: a double-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet HIV. 2020 Apr;7(4):e238-e248. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3018(19)30406-0. Epub 2020 Feb 6. PubMed PMID: 32035516; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7247755.
Hsu DC, Sunyakumthorn P, Wegner M, Schuetz A, Silsorn D, Estes JD, Deleage C, Tomusange K, Lakhashe SK, Ruprecht RM, Lombardini E, Im-Erbsin R, Kuncharin Y, Phuang-Ngern Y, Inthawong D, Chuenarom W, Burke R, Robb ML, Ndhlovu LC, Ananworanich J, Valcour V, O'Connell RJ, Spudich S, Michael NL, Vasan S. Central Nervous System Inflammation and Infection during Early, Nonaccelerated Simian-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Rhesus Macaques. J Virol. 2018 Jun 1;92(11). doi: 10.1128/JVI.00222-18. Print 2018 Jun 1. PubMed PMID: 29563297; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5952152.
Vasan S, Hurley A, Schlesinger SJ, Hannaman D, Gardiner DF, Dugin DP, Boente-Carrera M, Vittorino R, Caskey M, Andersen J, Huang Y, Cox JH, Tarragona-Fiol T, Gill DK, Cheeseman H, Clark L, Dally L, Smith C, Schmidt C, Park HH, Kopycinski JT, Gilmour J, Fast P, Bernard R, Ho DD. In vivo electroporation enhances the immunogenicity of an HIV-1 DNA vaccine candidate in healthy volunteers. PLoS One. 2011;6(5):e19252. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0019252. Epub 2011 May 16. PubMed PMID: 21603651; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3095594.