Stanford School of Medicine
Infectious Diseases– In the Department of Pediatrics

Research



Ann M. Arvin, M.D.

Dr. Arvin’s research interests focus on the pathogenesis and host response to varicella zoster virus (VZV), with projects in three areas, including identification of viral proteins that are major targets of immunity, investigation of cell types associated with permissive and latent viral infection in vivo in humans and in the Scid-hu mouse, and generation of recombinant strains of VZV for analyses of alterations in pathogenicity. She is also Director of the Stanford University-LPCH Vaccine Program which is involved in development and evaluation of new pediatric vaccines.


Cornelia L. Dekker, M.D.

Dr. Dekker is Medical Director of the Stanford-LPCH Vaccine Program. Her primary interest area is in vaccine clinical research with an emphasis on viral vaccines. In collaboration with Dr. Arvin, she is currently investigating the immune response to natural HCMV infection in children and adults as part of an NIH Program Project grant. She has established collaborations with Vanderbilt University and the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center as well as with local pediatric groups for the purpose of developing Stanford's ability to conduct clinical vaccine studies. http://vaccines.stanford.edu/index.html


Hayley A. Gans, MD

Dr. Gans’ research involves delineating the ontogeny of human neonatal immune responses to viral antigens, using measles vaccine as a model antigen. She has conducted research defining T and B cell responses to measles immunization among young infants, and is further delineating the nature of these responses.


Kathleen Gutierrez, MD

Dr. Gutierrez’ research interests focus on studies of the neonatal T cell immune responses to herpes simplex infection.


David B. Lewis, M.D.

Dr. Lewis' research is focused on determining mechanisms limiting adaptive immunity, particularly that mediated by T cells, during early postnatal life. Studies in his laboratory are being carried out using circulating human T cells isolated from cord blood or peripheral blood, and using a number of murine models.


Yvonne A. Maldonado, M.D.

Dr. Maldonado’s research program is devoted to the epidemiologic aspects of viral infections in children. The four components of her program include:

  1. Molecular epidemiology of the immunogenicity and mutagenicity of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). A major project Dr. Maldonado has conducted is to identify a number of host and viral factors which affect the immunogencity and mutagenesis of OPV. Her initial studies among rural Mayan children, evalutated factors affecting poor OPV immunogenicity, since the immunogenicity of OPV is poor among children living in developing areas of the world. Further studies include evaluation of interventions to improve OPV immunogenicity in developing countries and the identification of molecular and epidemiologic correlates of OPV neuroreversion and persistent circulation of OPV among infants living in developing and developed countries.
  2. Ontogeny of immune response to measles vaccine. Dr. Maldonado, along with Dr. Ann Arvin, is conducting a study to define the ontogeny of T and B cell responses to measles vaccine in young infants, and to identify specific responses to measles vaccine which affect vaccine immunogenicity and which may induce the immunosuppressive effects associated with measles vaccination. She is currently conducting an aerosol measles vaccine trial in collaboration with Mexican colleagues in Mexico City and Cuernavaca, Mexico.
  3. Epidemiology of perinatal HIV infection. Since 1989, Dr. Maldonado has followed a population-based cohort of infants and children born to HIV-infected women in Northern California. She has analyzed data from this cohort to define the natural history of perinatal HIV infection and to identify factors associated with progression of HIV-related disease. Currently, the project has expanded to include identification of risk factors for lack of prenatal HIV testing among pregnant women.
  4. Clinical trials to prevent perinatal HIV infection. Dr. Maldonado is the principal investigator of NIH-sponsored HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) in Zimbabwe, Africa. The goal of her studies is to evaluate antiretroviral therapies that will decrease perinatal HIV transmission among infants living in developing areas of the world. http://www.stanford.edu/group/pedshiv/

Charles G. Prober, M.D.

Dr. Prober’s research has focused on the epidemiology, immunology and therapy of herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) infections in pregnant women, their sexual partners and their neonates. He has also investigated the epidemiology of HSV-2 infection in adolescents. Other areas of research interest include evaluation of the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of antimicrobial agents, especially antiviral agents and evaluation of the safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness of new viral vaccines.


Research facilities, space and equipment

The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Laboratories consist of 4 rooms equipped for tissue culture, general laboratory use, a fluorescence microscope room and a darkroom. Located nearby are a warm room, a cold room, the tissue culture glassware processing room and a common room containing departmental equipment. Equipment contained in the laboratories include 4 double door CO2 incubators, phase and fluorescence microscopes, liquid nitrogen tanks, three -70oC freezers, three -20o freezers and four refrigerators, electrophoresis equipment, waterbaths, scales, 2 refrigerated centrifuges, thermocyclers, microtiter equipment, an ELISA reader and an automated fraction collector. Research equipment located in the common room in the Department of Pediatrics includes an RC-2, an RC-5, Sorvall centrifuges, 2 Beckman L-65 ultracentrifuges, 2 Virtis lyophilizers, a Packard auto-gamma spectrometer and 2 Packard liquid scintillation spectrometers, a PDI scanner, a spectrophotometer, and a Speed-Vac.

Machine and electronic shops are available at the School of Medicine. Dr. Arvin is a member of the Stanford Program for Molecular and Genetic Medicine which provides access to a cell sorter, peptide synthesis and sequencing facilities.

The above equipment is available for the performance of the sponsored and unsponsored research by all members of the pediatric infectious diseases division.

The Stanford University School of Medicine maintains active services for computer assistance to investigators, including Vax capabilities and access to mainframe and minicomputers. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Division has several DEC IBM-compatible 486s, as well as Macintosh and PowerMac computers for data analysis. Each faculty member and pediatric infectious diseases resident has at least one computer available for individual use.

One full time secretary and one full time administrative assistant are assigned to the Pediatric Infectious Disease Division.

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