Lawrence Corey, M.D.
Co-Principal Investigator, HVTN Leadership and Operations Center

Dr. Corey is past president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a professor of its Vaccine and Infectious Disease, Public Health Sciences and Clinical Research divisions. He is a professor of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine & Pathology at the University of Washington, was head of the Virology Division at UW from 1978 to 2010, and led the AIDS Clinical Trials Group from 1987 to 1992. He founded the HVTN and has been PI since its inception in 1999.

Corey pioneered the use of HIV viral load as a predictor of clinical benefit and his studies demonstrating the early administration of combination antiretroviral therapy provided the strategy to reduce HIV morbidity and mortality globally. His work in HSV-2 established the framework for understanding the herpes pandemic and its role in HIV acquisition and progression.

Corey received his B.S. and M.D. from the University of Michigan and his infectious diseases training at UW. He is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, was the recipient of the Parran Award for his work in HSV-2, the American Society of Microbiology Cubist Award for his work on antivirals, and the University of Michigan Medical School Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is one of the most highly cited biomedical researchers in the last 20 years and is the author, coauthor or editor of over 1000 scientific publications.

Glenda Gray, M.B.B.C.H., F.C.Paed (SA)
Co-Principal Investigator, HVTN Leadership and Operations Center

Dr. Gray is the president & CEO of the South African Medical Research Council. She is a research professor of Paediatrics at the University of the Witwatersrand, and a director at the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto. Trained as a pediatrician, she was awarded a Fogarty Training Fellowship at Columbia University in 1999 and completed a program on clinical epidemiology at Cornell University. She is a professor of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division at Fred Hutch and director of HVTN Africa programs. She joined the HVTN LOC as co-PI in 2011.

Gray became involved in HIV vaccine research in 2000 and led the first clinical trials involving HIV vaccines in South Africa. She has expertise in the field of mother to child transmission of HIV, adolescent HIV prevention and treatment, and HIV vaccine and microbicide research.

Gray has received multiple awards for her contributions to perinatal HIV research and HIV treatment and prevention in South Africa, including the Nelson Mandela Health and Human Rights Award for pioneering work done in the field of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. She is a member of the South Africa Academy of Science was elected as a foreign associate into the US Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Gray received South Africa’s highest honor, the Order of Mapungubwe, for international achievements serving South Africa's interests.

Georgia Tomaras, Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigator, HVTN Leadership and Operations Center

Dr. Tomaras is a tenured professor of Surgery, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University. She is a founding director of the Duke Center for Human Immunology. She joined the HVTN LOC as co-PI in 2019.

Tomaras’ primary research focus is the study of human immunity and identification of immune correlates of protection for effective vaccines against infectious diseases. She has over 240 peer-reviewed publications and was recognized as a ‘Highly Cited’ (Top 1%) scientist in 2017 and 2018. She is also PI of a multi-institution program grant to decipher immune correlates of protection and is associate director of the HVTN Laboratory Center.

Tomaras is chair of the NIH AIDS Vaccine Research Subcommittee and served as an NIAID Advisory Council member. Her awards include the HVTN Mentoring Award, Norman Letvin Faculty Award, and the Ruth and A. Morris Williams Faculty Research Prize. She was recognized in 2017 as a highly cited scientist and presented the 2017 Distinguished Graduate School Alumna lecture. Tomaras received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from SUNY Upstate Medical University. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University. In 2018, she was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dan H. Barouch, M.D., Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigator, HVTN Leadership and Operations Center

Dr. Barouch is director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In addition, he is a key part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery, the National Institutes of Health Martin Delaney HIV-1 Cure Collaboratory, and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. He joined the HVTN LOC as co-PI in 2019.

Barouch received his A.B. in Biochemistry from Harvard College, Ph.D. in Immunology from Oxford University and his M.D. summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School. He has been recognized with the Maxwell Finland Young Investigator Award, Oswald Avery Award, and received an Official Citation from the Massachusetts Senate/House of Representatives. He is a member of the Association of American Physicians.  

His laboratory focuses on studying the immunology and virology of HIV-1 infection and developing novel vaccine and cure strategies. He has also applied his vaccine expertise to other infectious diseases such as Zika virus and tuberculosis. He has advanced novel adenovirus vector-based HIV-1 vaccine candidates from concept and design to preclinical testing, Phase 1/2a clinical trials, as well as large Phase 2b/3 efficacy trials. He has also pioneered the use of broadly neutralizing antibodies for HIV-1 cure strategies.

Julie McElrath, M.D., Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, HVTN Laboratory Center

Dr. McElrath is director of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and a senior vice president of Fred Hutch. She is also professor of the Clinical Research Division and holds the Joel D. Meyers Endowed Chair at Fred Hutch. She is professor of Medicine and adjunct professor of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology as well as Global Health at the University of Washington. She has been the HVTN LC PI since 2002. The LC oversees the HVTN-related lab activities of more than 100 site-affiliated and contract labs.

McElrath's current research pursues a vaccine that will protect against HIV-1 infection, investigating how components of T-cell immunity elicited early in HIV-1 infection contribute to control of HIV-1 disease, and other areas related to human immune responses to HIV infection and vaccination. She’s assumed leadership roles or been a major contributor in many national and international programs, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery, the Microbicide Trials Network, and the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. She has been recognized with an NIAID Merit Award, Burroughs Wellcome Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research, and the Carl Kohrt Distinguished Alumni Award.

McElrath received her B.S. from Furman University and Ph.D. and M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina. She did her clinical training in Infectious Diseases at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and her postdoctoral training in Cell Physiology/Immunology at Rockefeller University in New York.

Peter Gilbert, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, HVTN Statistical and Data Management Center (SDMC)

Dr. Gilbert is professor of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Epidemiology within the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and professor of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutch. He is also a research professor and graduate faculty in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Washington. Gilbert has been HVTN SDMC PI since 2011.

Gilbert’s current research interests center on the statistical design and analysis of vaccine efficacy trials, with emphasis on assessing immune correlates of vaccine-induced protection including the "sieve analysis" of the pathogen sequences infecting trial volunteers. While being motivated by vaccine efficacy trials for HIV and other pathogens, this research contributes to general areas of statistical methods research, including surrogate endpoint assessment, causal inference, survival analysis, and efficient randomized trial design. Gilbert is an active mentor to a number of graduate and post-graduate students from UW and enjoys accomplishing research objectives with their collaboration.

Gilbert holds a B.S. in Mathematics as well as an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biostatistics, all from UW. He was a postdoctoral fellow and assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health from 1997 to 2011. Gilbert is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and his service includes membership on the U.S. FDA’s advisory committee for vaccines and several data and safety monitoring boards..

Yunda Huang, Ph.D
Co-Principal Investigator, HVTN Statistical and Data Management Center (SDMC)

Dr. Huang is a principal staff scientist of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Epidemiology in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutch and affiliate associate professor in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington. She joined the HVTN SDMC as co-PI in 2019.

Huang has over 15 years of experience in the design and analysis of vaccine clinical trials, monoclonal antibody (mAb) clinical trials, and immunological biomarker studies related to the prevention and treatment of HIV. She has worked closely with academic, regulatory and industrial collaborators in providing statistical leadership for the design and analysis of more than 10 Phase 1a-2a HIV vaccine trials, the pharmacokinetics and study design of 7 single and combination mAb trials, and the first population PK analysis of an HIV mAb trial. She most recently led the PK analysis of the Antibody Mediated Prevention (AMP) trial of VRC01 in 2020.

Huang holds a B.S. in Mathematical Statistics from Renmin University of China and a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a member of the WHO Solidarity Vaccines Trial Expert Group, providing expertise in the design and analysis of vaccine clinical trials against emerging infectious diseases.

Holly Janes, Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigator, HVTN Statistical and Data Management Center (SDMC)

Dr. Janes is professor and associate head of the Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Epidemiology Program within the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and professor of the Public Health Sciences Division of Fred Hutch. She is also an affiliate associate professor and graduate faculty of Biostatistics at the University of Washington. She joined the HVTN SDMC as co-PI in 2019.

Janes is a biostatistician working on the design and analysis of vaccine studies, with a particular expertise in HIV prevention and vaccine science. She also develops and applies statistical methodology for evaluating biomarkers for risk prediction and optimizing treatment decisions. Her work has been recognized by the receipt of the Young Investigator Award from the American Statistical Association and, most recently, the Prentice Endowed Professor, Department of Biostatistics, UW/Fred Hutch. She sits on the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), multiple DSMBs and was a Member of the WHO R&D Blueprint Clinical Trials Expert Group.

Janes received her BA in Philosophy of Physical Science and Mathematical Modeling at Skidmore College, MS in Mathematics from the University of Massachusetts and Ph.D. in Biostatistics from UW. 

Lindsey Robert Baden, M.D.
HVTN Senior Investigator

Lindsey Baden, MD, is professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Center for Clinical Investigation and vice president of Clinical Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Director of Infectious Diseases at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Baden has been a part of the HVTN since its inception with his establishing the Harvard vaccine unit over 20 years ago. He now serves as MPI of the Harvard CTU. He has served in several HVTN leadership roles including being a member and chair (2009-16) of the HVTN Network Evaluation Committee (NEC), member of the Scientific Governance Committee, and currently co-chairs the Protocol Allocation Committee (2020- ).

Baden is an expert in developing new therapeutics and vaccines especially for those with weakened immune systems. He has designed and conducted many first-in-human studies (both single and multi-center) of different candidate vaccines including those based on adenovirus, orthopoxvirus, mRNA, protein, and attenuated organisms against important pathogens such as HIV-1, CMV, Vibrio cholera, and SARS-CoV-2. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, he was integral in the design and conduct of the pivotal NIH co-sponsored vaccine efficacy trials as co-principal investigator for the first Phase 3 trial that evaluated the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine. This Phase 3 trial, conducted by the CoVPN, has led to the unprecedented rapid emergency use authorization, subsequent licensure and broad global use of this highly effective vaccine.  He continues to be a leader in the improvement of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 in response to the emergence of immune evasive viral variants. In addition, he is a Deputy Editor at The New England Journal of Medicine, serves on several NIAID DSMBs, is a Member of the COVID-19 Clinical Management Committee for the World Health Organization (WHO), and is Chair of the Antimicrobial Drug Advisory Committee (AMDAC) for the US FDA.

Susan Buchbinder, M.D.
HVTN Senior Investigator

Dr. Buchbinder is the director of Bridge HIV at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and clinical professor of Medicine & Epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She has been part of the EMT since 2011.

Her research focuses on risk factors for HIV acquisition and interventions to prevent HIV infection, including HIV vaccines, pre-exposure prophylaxis, behavioral interventions, microbicides and combination modalities. She is chair of the HVTN Efficacy Trials Working Group and Investigators Working Group.

Buchbinder has served in leadership positions at the HVTN and HIV Prevention Trials Network and has participated in numerous NIH and UCSF advisory committees, including the AIDS Research Advisory Committee, Office of AIDS Research Advisory Committee, and UCSF AIDS Research Institute Scientific Council. She also co-founded the 300-member San Francisco Getting to Zero Consortium, where she co-chairs the Steering Committee. Buchbinder has over 380 publications in peer-reviewed journals. Buchbinder received her B.A. in Human Biology at Brown University, M.D. at UCSF and postgraduate training at Tufts University in Epidemiology.

James Kublin, M.D., M.P.H.
HVTN Executive Director

Dr. Kublin is a principal staff scientist in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and medical director of the Seattle Malaria Clinical Trials Center, both based at Fred Hutch. He is also a clinical professor of Global Health at the University of Washington. Kublin founded the office of HIV/AIDS Network Coordination (HANC) in 2004, which is responsible for coordinating global operations across the NIAID HIV clinical trials networks. He has been the HVTN executive director since 2008.

Kublin was the director of Clinical Research/HIV Vaccines at Merck Research Laboratories, where he played a key role in the development and implementation of HIV vaccine studies. In addition, he has conducted extensive research on HIV and malaria in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa, including clinical trials of novel therapies and vaccines.

Kublin serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Inovio and TB Vaccine Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee for Aeras. He is a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Public Health Association and Global Health Council. Kublin completed his B.S. and M.D. at Georgetown University and received his MPH and completed a residency in Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He continued work on vaccine development and molecular epidemiology while attending the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine for his fellowship at the Center for Vaccine Development.

Hyman Scott, M.D., M.H.P.
HVTN EMT Member

Dr. Scott is the clinical research medical director at Bridge HIV in the San Francisco Department of Public Health and an assistant clinical professor of Medicine at UCSF. His research focuses on implementation of HIV prevention clinical trials and using technology to expand uptake and use of HIV prevention interventions. He is active with several research networks in addition to the HVTN, including the COVID-19 Prevention Network, HIV Prevention Trials Network, and Adolescent Trials Network. Scott joined the HVTN EMT in 2022.

Scott completed his B.S. in Biology at Stanford University, his M.D. at Yale School of Medicine, and MPH from University of California, Berkeley. He completed his residency, chief residency, Infectious Disease fellowship, and postdoctoral fellowship training at UCSF. He is currently an HIV and PrEP provider at the Positive Health Program (Ward 86) at UCSF, and serves as medical director for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, one of the largest PrEP providers in the Northern California. Scott received the 2022 HVTN Citizenship Award for his activities exemplifying the spirit, citizenry and performance of the HVTN.

Jorge Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H.
HVTN EMT Member

Dr. Sanchez is vice-president of the Centro de Investigaciones Tecnologicas, Biomedicas y Medioambientales at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru, affiliate professor of the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington, and Principal Investigator of the Peru Clinical Trial Unit. He has been a mentor to numerous graduate and undergraduate students of training programs from the UW CFAR and the UW Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars, the UW Global Health Fellows Program, the South American Program in HIV Prevention Research at UCLA, and the Global Health Equity Scholars Fellowship at Yale University.

Sanchez founded IMPACTA in 2000 and started collaborating with different US DAIDS clinical research networks as Peru Principal Investigator (HPTN and HVTN in 2000, and ACTG and MTN in 2003). In 2004, he was awarded the DAIDS Andean CIPRA and in 2006 was awarded the IMPACTA PERU Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) serving five DAIDS networks (HVTN, HPTN, MTN, ACTG and INSIGHT) through up to 9 CRSs. He received the HPTN Service Award in 2004 and the HVTN Service Award in 2007.

Sanchez is an infectious diseases specialist from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and earned his MPH at UW. His research focuses on HIV/STI epidemiology, factors for HIV acquisition, HIV vaccine and non-vaccine prevention modalities, and tuberculosis prevention and treatment.