Biography
Shelly Karuna, MD, MPH is the Director for Vaccines & Prevention in the Global Infectious Diseases Program at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she collaborates with the Military HIV Research Program and the Viral Diseases Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research, and other global partners.
Dr. Karuna obtained her undergraduate degree at Duke University before earning her MD at the University of California-San Diego and her MPH at the University of Washington, and has worked as a physician-scientist at the intersection of science, medicine, and public health for over two decades. She was a physician for underserved patients in Seattle, Washington for twenty years while leading research at the NIH-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network and COVID-19 Prevention Network at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Dr. Karuna led the HVTN Antibody Program, developed an international medical monitoring corps, and facilitated the development and implementation of dozens of phase 1-3 global HIV and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and monoclonal antibody clinical trials. Her clinical trial experience includes leading sentinel trials that helped define the protective role of neutralizing antibodies against HIV and SARS-CoV-2, and leading analytical treatment interruptions in Africa and South America, facilitating global multi-stakeholder engagement in HIV cure research and advancing understanding of immune-mediated mechanisms of HIV virologic remission.
Just prior to joining HJF, Dr. Karuna was an executive in the biotech sector, where she developed and led Clinical R&D and Medical Affairs programs and continued to advance vaccine research & development to address emerging infectious diseases and unmet medical needs, globally.
Dr. Karuna also serves as a reviewer for multiple national and international groups, and as a scientific advisor for external organizations advancing global vaccine equity, HIV prevention & immunology research, vaccine safety, and public health.
Publications
Walsh SR, Gay CL, Karuna ST, Hyrien O, Skalland T, Mayer KH, Sobieszczyk ME, Baden LR, Goepfert PA, Del Rio C, Pantaleo G, Andrew P, Karg C, He Z, Lu H, Paez CA, Baumblatt JAG, Polakowski LL, Chege W, Anderson MA, Janto S, Han X, Huang Y, Dumond J, Ackerman ME, McDermott AB, Flach B, Piwowar-Manning E, Seaton K, Tomaras GD, Montefiori DC, Gama L, Mascola JR; HVTN 127/HPTN 087 Study Team. Safety and pharmacokinetics of VRC07-523LS administered via different routes and doses (HVTN 127/HPTN 087): A Phase I randomized clinical trial. PLoS Med. 2024 Jun 24;21(6):e1004329.
Reeves DB, Mayer BT, deCamp AC, Huang Y, Zhang B, Carpp LN, Magaret CA, Juraska M, Gilbert PB, Montefiori DC, Bar KJ, Cardozo-Ojeda EF, Schiffer JT, Rossenkhan R, Edlefsen P, Morris L, Mkhize NN, Williamson C, Mullins JI, Seaton KE, Tomaras GD, Andrew P, Mgodi N, Ledgerwood JE, Cohen MS, Corey L, Naidoo L, Orrell C, Goepfert PA, Casapia M, Sobieszczyk ME, Edupuganti S and Karuna ST. High monoclonal neutralization titers reduced breakthrough HIV-1 viral loads in the Antibody Mediated Prevention trials. Nat Comm. 2023 Dec 14;14:8299.
Seaton KE, Huang Y, Karuna S, Heptinstall JR, Brackett C, Chiong K, Zhang L, Yates NL, Sampson M, Rudnicki E, Juraska M, deCamp AC, Edlefsen PT, Mullins JI, Williamson C, Rossenkhan R, Giorgi EE, Kenny A, Angier H, Randhawa A, Weiner JA, Rojas M, Sarzotti-Kelsoe M, Zhang L, Sawant S, Ackerman ME, McDermott AB, Mascola JR, Hural J, McElrath MJ, Andrew P, Hidalgo JA, Clark J, Laher F, Orrell C, Frank I, Gonzales P, Edupuganti S, Mgodi N, Corey L, Morris L, Montefiori D, Cohen MS, Gilbert PB and Tomaras GD. Pharmacokinetic serum concentrations of VRC01 correlate with prevention of HIV-1 acquisition. EBioMedicine. 2023 Jul;93:104590.
Karuna S, Gallardo-Cartagena JA, Theodore D, Hunidzarira P, Montenegro-Idrogo J, Hu J, Jones M, Kim V, De La Grecca R, Trahey M, Karg C, Takalani A, Polakowski L, Hutter J, Miner MD, Erdmann N, Goepfert P, Maboa R, Corey L, Gill K and Li SS for the HVTN 405/HPTN 1901 Study Team. Post-COVID Symptom Profiles and Duration in a Global Convalescent COVID-19 Observational Cohort: Associations with Demographics, Medical History, Acute COVID-19 Severity and Global Region. Journal of Global Health. 2023 Jun 23;13:06020.
Schuster DJ, Karuna S, Brackett C, Wesley M, Li SS, Eisel N, Tenney D, Hilliard S, Yates NL, Heptinstall JR, Williams LD, Shen X, Rolfe R, Cabello R, Zhang L, Sawant S, Hu J, Randhawa AK, Hyrien O, Hural JA, Corey L, Frank I, Tomaras GD, Seaton KE and HVTN 405/HPTN 1901 Study Team. Lower SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral immunity in people living with HIV-1 recovered from non-hospitalized COVID-19. JCI Insight. 2022 Nov 8;7(21):e158402.
Gilbert, PB, Huang, Y, deCamp, AC, Karuna S, Zhang Y, Magaret CA, Giorgi EE, Korber B, Edlefsen PT, Rossenkhan R, Juraska M, Rudnicki E, Kochar N, Huang Y, Carpp LN, Barouch DH, Mkhize NN, Hermanus T, Kgagudi P, Bekker V, Kaldine H, Mapengo RE, Eaton A, Domin E, West C, Feng W, Tang H, Seaton KE, Heptinstall J, Brackett C, Chiong K, Tomaras GD, Andrew P, Mayer BT, Reeves DB, Sobieszczyk ME, Garrett N, Sanchez J, Gay C, Makhema J, Williamson C, Mullins JI, Hural J, Cohen MS, Corey L, Montefiori DC and Morris L. Neutralization titer biomarker for antibody-mediated prevention of HIV-1 acquisition. Nat Med. 2022 September; 28:1924–1932.
Karuna ST, Takuva S, Juraska M, Rudnicki E, Edupuganti S, Anderson M, De la Grecca R, Gaudinski MR, Sehurutshi A, Orell C, Naidoo L, Valencia J, Vilela LM, Walsh SR, Andrew P, Karg C, Randhawa A, Hural J, Gomez Lorenzo MM, Burns D, Ledgerwood J, Mascola JR, Cohen M, Corey L, Mngadi K and Mgodi NM. Infusion reactions after receiving the broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01 or placebo to reduce HIV-1 acquisition: Results from the phase 2b Antibody Mediated Prevention (AMP) randomized trials. JAIDS. 2022 Apr 1; 89(4): 405-13.
Karuna S, Li SS, Grant S, Walsh SR, Frank I, Casapia M, Trahey M, Hyrien O, Fisher L, Miner MD, Randhawa AK, Polakowski L, Kublin JG, Corey L, Montefiori D, for the HVTN 405/HPTN 1901 Study Team. Neutralizing antibody responses over time in demographically and clinically diverse individuals recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection in the United States and Peru: A cohort study. PLoS Med. 2021 December; 18(12):e1003868.
Corey L, Gilbert PB, Juraska M, Montefiori DC, Morris L, Karuna ST, Edupuganti S, Mgodi NM, deCamp AC, Rudnicki E, Huang Y, Gonzales P, Cabello R, Orrell C, Lama JR, Laher F, Lazarus EM, Sanchez J, Frank I, Hinojosa J, Sobieszczyk ME, Marshall KE, Mukwekwerere PG, Makhema J, Baden LR, Mullins JI, Williamson C, Hural J, McElrath MJ, Bentley C, Takuva S, Gomez Lorenzo MM, Burns DN, Espy N, Randhawa AK, Kochar N, Piwowar-Manning E, Donnell DJ, Sista N, Andrew P, Kublin JG, Gray G, Ledgerwood JE, Mascola JR, and Cohen MS for the AMP Study Teams. Two Randomized Trials of Neutralizing Antibodies to Prevent HIV-1 Acquisition. N Engl J Med 2021 Mar 18; 384: 1003-14.
Karuna S and Corey L. Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies for HIV Prevention. Annual Review of Medicine January 27, 2020;71:329-346.