During a discussion with leaders from Dell Medical School and the Travis County Medical Society, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called the research that led to the development of the coronavirus vaccine “spectacular.” Fauci specifically pointed to the research of Jason McLellan, an associate professor of molecular biosciences at The University of Texas whose work alongside members of National Institutes of Health over the past decade led to the development of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
“That’s an example of . . . the interface between fundamental basic research that’s done five and ten years ago and the translation of that into an intervention that is groundbreaking,” Fauci said. “The fundamental basic science that [The University of Texas] supports is just spectacular.”
McLellan, who leads a lab of epidemiologists at UT, began working on vaccine research with NIAID partners in 2008. His team announced the discovery of the attacking “spike protein” common to coronaviruses in 2016 and developed a method to lock the protein into its original shape, promoting the production of antibodies in cells.
The McLellan Lab at UT used that base of research to help develop a vaccine for COVID-19 when the genome sequence for coronavirus was released in January. With a well-established foundation of research, the team was able to collaborate with Pfizer and Moderna to take vaccines to clinical trials by spring. By the end of 2020, both vaccines were being administered to high-priority populations in the United States.
