This semester, the Rutgers Global Health Institute is pleased to announce a new faculty member, Bobby Brook, as an assistant professor and researcher in global health in the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. We got Herrera. press release.
After earning her PhD, Herrera entered college. He earned his PhD from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and founded two biotechnology companies.
He said his interest in biomedical research began during his undergraduate years studying biology at New Mexico State University. There he conducted research on the ancient immune system of Hawaiian bobtail squid, and at Johns Hopkins University studied the role of genetics in autoimmune diseases in African Americans.
Herrera then chose to pursue a master’s degree in theological studies with a focus on philosophy at Harvard Theological Seminary. He was interested in how religion affected and continues to affect public health and society.
“It took me two years to wander through the dimly lit library of Harvard University and ultimately think about how we could improve public health, especially for the most vulnerable,” he said. He graduated from Harvard University’s Doctor of Health program and Harvard TH He joined the dissertation laboratory at the Chan School of Public Health. ”
in his PhD. Herrera used his interest in infectious diseases to study the Ebola and Zika viruses. He did postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School, after which his E25Bio focused on developing diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases and his T cell-based vaccine development against infectious diseases and cancer. Established Mir Biosciences.
He said his overall goal in research is to improve public health for particularly vulnerable populations. Specifically, information from asymptomatic infections and cases of mild illness into effective vaccines and diagnostic tools.
His lab will look at immune cell responses in cases of mild disease or asymptomatic infections and compare them to responses initiated during severe disease, he said.
“My responsibilities are research, education, and service. My primary responsibility is to establish an independently funded research program that studies the immunology of infectious diseases,” said Herrera. “I am thinking of recruiting individuals, such as postdocs, graduate students, and research assistants, to work in my lab, so I would like to hire people who look and think differently.”
Herrera says he hopes to improve the ease of diagnosing infectious diseases by using biochemical data to build diagnostic tools and using human trials to test efficacy.
He also said he is interested in developing more potent vaccines, especially against viruses that could cause the next pandemic. He said he will work with industry partners to scale up the lab’s findings and implement them in a wider population.
He said the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has emphasized the need to share information and collaborate among scientists across the larger community. This allows us to test hypotheses on different groups and increase the accuracy and scope of our studies.
“International collaboration fosters unique curiosity, perspective and learning,” said Herrera. “Often, unexpected hypotheses and discoveries arise simply because there are so many different angles at which a problem is approached.”
He also said scientists need to better communicate their research to the general public, especially as scientific communication is linked to social determinants such as economic policy and political institutions. These factors may be more important in influencing health than lifestyle factors or healthcare itself, especially with regard to pandemic viruses.
“Addressing social determinants is fundamental to improving health and reducing longstanding health inequities … COVID-19 vaccine hesitation is one example of how better science communication can improve health outcomes.” It’s one,” Herrera said.
Overall, he was proud of his current achievements, but said he would like to use his time at Rutgers University to advance diagnostics and create stronger vaccines against infectious diseases.
“Ultimately, I hope that my research will have a positive impact on public health, especially on the most vulnerable who may not receive adequate care.” We hope that it will lead to the predictable expansion of the law and vaccine, which will lead to human trials and use in the population.”
