Vaccine Efficacy Evaluation: The Gnotobiotic Pig Model

Lijuan Yuan is a Professor of Virology and Immunology in the Virginia-Maryland Vet Med’s Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology. Dr. Yuan studies the interactions between enteric viruses and the host immune system. Her lab’s research interests are focused on pathogenesis and innate and adaptive immune responses induced by enteric viruses, especially noroviruses and rotaviruses, and on the development of safer and more effective vaccines against viral gastroenteritis.
One of the major research efforts of the Yuan lab is to study mechanisms of immune modulation by probiotic bacteria, prebiotics (rice bran) and human gut microbiota in rotavirus and norovirus infection and vaccination. These studies utilize wild type, gene knock-out and human gut microbiota transplanted gnotobiotic pig models of human rotavirus and norovirus infection and diseases and cell culture model of rotavirus infection. Currently, the Yuan lab is evaluating the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of several candidate rotavirus and norovirus vaccines. See: http: //www.vetmed.vt.edu/research/labs/yuan/