Faculty

George K. Lewis, Ph.D.
Professor, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute;
Professor and Director of Division of Vaccine Research of the IHV

glewis@ihv.umaryland.edu

George K. Lewis, Ph.D., heads the IHV’s Division of Vaccine Development, has extensive experience in the preclinical development and testing of vaccines and is committed in the quest to find an effective and affordable vaccine against HIV-1.

One of the major challenges in developing an effective AIDS vaccine has long been the fact that HIV, much like the influenza virus, exists as multiple strains that present many different faces to the immune system.

IHV researchers have created an AIDS vaccine candidate that, for the first time, demonstrates an ability in the laboratory to elicit antibodies that block the infection of multiple HIV strains. Lewis’ team also has patented innovated approaches to vaccine delivery that are being used in HIV/AIDS and beyond.

Modern biotechnology provides the tools to help develop novel vaccines that can be delivered via mucosal surfaces, the principle sites where HIV infects after sexual contact, and future vaccines developed at the Institute could provide an effective way to immunize high-risk populations, especially in developing countries, where health care is sporadic and money and medical personnel are scarce.

A Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine since 1984, Lewis joined the Institute in 1996 and is also a Professor at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Previously, he had been an Assistant Professor in Residence in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco.