Layman description of current research being conducted in Dr. Greg Moe’s laboratory at CHORI:  Neisseria meningitides are bacteria that are a major cause of meningitis and infections of the blood worldwide. We have identified an unusual sugar molecule, called de-N-acetyl sialic acid, that is expressed by all strains of Neisseria when they are exposed to human tissues. We have shown that a vaccine based on the sugar molecule can elicit protective antibodies against group B and C strains, which cause more than 90% of disease in developed countries. Currently, there is no vaccine for group B strains. We are working on an intranasal form of this vaccine for infants, which is the age group at highest risk of disease, that we think will provide the kind of natural immunity that protects most adults. Finally, we have discovered the function of a protein encoded by a gene that has been linked to meningococcal disease in young adults. We hope that this discovery will lead to new approaches to preventing the increase in disease that occurs in this age group.

 

Members of Jennifer’s family with Dr. Greg Moe at CHORI, October, 2007

 

 The Moe Lab and Granoff Lab Groups at CHORI, 2008

 

   

The Moe Lab Group - December, 2009

 

The Jennifer Leigh Wells Research Fellowship Plaque at CHORI

 

 

To learn more about the Children’s Hospital and Research Institute of Oakland and Dr. Greg Moe:

www.chori.org  

 

 http://www.chori.org/Principal_Investigators/Moe_Gregory_R/

moe_overview.html