Dr. Erica Ollmann-Saphire
Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D
Associate Professor
Department of Immunology and Microbial Science
The Scripps Research Institute
10550 North Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone: (858) 784-8602
erica@scripps.edu
Ollmann-Saphire Lab website
Bio
Dr. Ollmann Saphire's laboratory explores, at the molecular level, how pathogens evade and usurp innate and adaptive immune responses and how we can design vaccines and antivirals to defend against them. She incorporates x-ray crystallography, virology, and immunology in her analysis of the key proteins responsible for the pathogenesis of and immune suppression in Lassa, LCMV, Marburg, and Ebola Hemorrhagic Fevers.
Dr. Ollmann Saphire's awards include a Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE) presented by The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and NIH/NIAID in 2009, the Burroughs Wellcome Career Award in Biomedical Sciences, the American Society of Microbiology’s ICAAC Young Investigator Award, the Ellison Medical Foundation’s New Initiatives Award in Global Infectious Disease, and the Pittsburg Diffraction Society’s Surhain Sidhu Award.
Selected publications
- Structure of the Lassa virus nucleoprotein reveals a dsRNA-specific 3' to 5' exonuclease activity essential for immune suppression
Hastie KM, Kimberlin CR, Zandonatti MA, MacRae IJ, Saphire EO.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Feb 8;108(6):2396-401. Epub 2011 Jan 24. - Ebolavirus VP35 uses a bimodal strategy to bind dsRNA for innate immune suppression
Kimberlin CR, Bornholdt ZA, Li S, Woods VL Jr, MacRae IJ, Saphire EO.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Jan 5;107(1):314-9. Epub 2009 Dec 14. - Neutralizing ebolavirus: structural insights into the envelope glycoprotein and antibodies targeted against it
Lee JE, Saphire EO.
Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2009 Aug;19(4):408-17. Epub 2009 Jun 24. Review. - Crystal structure of a neutralizing human IGG against HIV-1: a template for vaccine design.
Saphire EO, Parren PW, Pantophlet R, Zwick MB, Morris GM, Rudd PM, Dwek RA, Stanfield RL, Burton DR, Wilson IA.
Science. 2001 Aug 10;293(5532):1155-9. - Structure of the Ebola virus glycoprotein bound to an antibody from a human survivor
Lee JE, Fusco ML, Hessell AJ, Oswald WB, Burton DR, Saphire EO.
Nature. 2008 Jul 10;454(7201):177-82.