Gregory C. Ippolito, Ph.D. brings deep expertise in approaches that reveal fundamental mechanisms of a body’s immune response to infection, as well as responses where antibodies mistakenly attack healthy organs and tissues in autoimmune disorders such as lupus.
He and collaborators have identified antibody repertoires elicited by vaccines or treatments. They designed a protocol that combines next-generation sequencing of B cells (BCR-seq) and mass spectrometry to identify humoral immunoglobulins, which are found throughout the body (Ig-seq), providing a much more complete picture of antibody responses.
Dr. Ippolito uses this approach to analyze the potential effectiveness of numerous vaccines and therapies, including two experimental malaria vaccines. He and collaborators also recently used it to identify a new monoclonal antibody that shows broad effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 variants and related coronaviruses.
He has recently joined the faculty at Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed), where he will continue his work characterizing vaccines and developing treatments to address global health threats such as COVID-19, influenza and malaria. In addition, he will lead preclinical research and also work in the commercialization space with the Institute’s Applied Science and Innovation (ASI) team. Dr. Ippolito is excited to join the greater San Antonio research community, saying he was drawn by Texas Biomed’s distinct approach combining preclinical research with innovation and commercialization through the ASI unit.
Dr. Ippolito was previously with the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), where he was a Research Associate Professor. He has published more than 70 research publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Immunity and the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. He has successfully submitted an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is an inventor on U.S. patent filings (two provisional, one issued) for antibody discovery.
Among his awards and honors, Dr. Ippolito was recognized with the inaugural Dell Medical School Health Catalyst Award in 2018. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Microbiology (Immunology) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Learn more about Dr. Ippolito’s passion for B cells and antibodies here.
