Jonathan Herman
Jonathan D. Herman, M.D., Ph.D., is a physician-scientist who investigates how the human immune system protects itself against infectious diseases. His research focuses on understanding vaccine-induced and natural immunity to pathogens like malaria, with the goal of developing new vaccines and therapies to prevent and treat infections. Herman employs advanced systems biology techniques to study how the human humoral immune system — specifically antibodies and B cells — responds to infections. His research program centers around analyzing these immune responses to develop effective vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases such as malaria, COVID-19 and HIV. He utilizes and develops systems-level tools to understand the human humoral immune system and then engineer it to protect patients from infectious disease. His current methodologies include systems serology to study Fc- and Fab-driven antibody responses; phage-display immunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-Seq) to measure whole-proteome anti-pathogen antibody responses; and the development of new antibody and B-cell technologies to interrogate antigen-specific responses at a massive scale. By integrating these findings, Herman aims to inform the design of next-generation vaccines and immunotherapies that can provide robust protection against malaria and other infectious diseases, ultimately improving global health outcomes.
Research Interests:
host-pathogen interactions, complement biology, phage-display immunoprecipitation, therapeutic development, novel technology development, interplay of innate and adaptive immunity, systems serology, malaria immunology, organoid models of disease and immunity, systems biology, machine learning, human immunology, IgM biology, fc-driven antibody immunology, Antibody immunology, vaccine development,Publications:
Kisalu, N.K., Pereira, L.D.S., Herman, J.D., Asokan, M., Ernste, K., Merriam, J., Liu, C., Demouth, M.E., Pegu, A., Lofgren, M., Dillon, M., Bonilla, B., Macvicar, R., Zur, Y., Kiyuka, P., Flores-Garcia, Y., Chakraborty, S., Nikolaeva, D., Ogwang, R., Flynn, B., Francica, J., Pierson, T.C., Koup, R.A., Zavala, F., Wang, T.T., Alter, G., Idris, A.H., Seder, R.A. FcγR binding differentially contributes to protection by two human monoclonal antibodies targeting Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein. Science Translational Medicine. 2025; 17(795):eadk6745.
Jongo S, Church LWP, Milando F, Qassim M, Schindler T, Rashid M, Tumbo A, Nyaulingo G, Bakari BM, Athuman Mbaga T, Mohamed L, Kassimu K, Simon BS, Mpina M, Zaidi I, Duffy PE, Swanson PA, Seder R, Herman JD, Mendu M, Zur Y, Alter G, Kc N, Riyahi P, Abebe Y, Murshedkar T, James ER, Billingsley PF, Sim BKL, Richie TL, Daubenberger C, Abdulla S, Hoffman SL. Safety and protective efficacy of PfSPZ Vaccine administered to HIV-negative and -positive Tanzanian adults. J Clin Invest. 2024 Jan 09; 134(6). view on PubMed
Andrews HS, Herman JD, Gandhi RT. Treatments for COVID-19. Annu Rev Med. 2024 Jan 29; 75:145-157. view on PubMed
Nziza N, Tran TM, DeRiso EA, Dolatshahi S, Herman JD, de Lacerda L, Junqueira C, Lieberman J, Ongoiba A, Doumbo S, Kayentao K, Traore B, Crompton PD, Alter G. Accumulation of Neutrophil Phagocytic Antibody Features Tracks With Naturally Acquired Immunity Against Malaria in Children. J Infect Dis. 2023 Sep 15; 228(6):759-768. view on PubMed
Herman JD, Atyeo C, Zur Y, Cook CE, Patel NJ, Vanni KM, Kowalski EN, Qian G, Srivatsan S, Shadick NA, Rao DA, Kellman B, Mann CJ, Lauffenburger D, Wallace ZS, Sparks JA, Alter G. Humoral immunity to an endemic coronavirus is associated with postacute sequelae of COVID-19 in individuals with rheumatic diseases. Sci Transl Med. 2023 Sep 06; 15(712):eadf6598. view on PubMed
Herman JD, Wang C, Burke JS, Zur Y, Compere H, Kang J, Macvicar R, Taylor S, Shin S, Frank I, Siegel D, Tebas P, Choi GH, Shaw PA, Yoon H, Pirofski LA, Julg BD, Bar KJ, Lauffenburger D, Alter G. Nucleocapsid-specific antibody function is associated with therapeutic benefits from COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy. Cell Rep Med. 2022 Nov 15; 3(11):100811. view on PubMed
Herman JD, Wang C, Loos C, Yoon H, Rivera J, Eugenia Dieterle M, Haslwanter D, Jangra RK, Bortz RH, Bar KJ, Julg B, Chandran K, Lauffenburger D, Pirofski LA, Alter G. Functional convalescent plasma antibodies and pre-infusion titers shape the early severe COVID-19 immune response. Nat Commun. 2021 Nov 25; 12(1):6853. view on PubMed
Queen J, Karaba S, Albin J, Karaba A, Howard-Anderson J, Skinner N, Herman JD, Paras ML, Melia MT. The Time is Now: A Call for Renewed Support of Infectious Diseases Physician-Scientist Trainees in the Era of Coronavirus Disease 2019. J Infect Dis. 2021 11 16; 224(9):1452-1454. view on PubMed
Fagbami, L., Deik, A. A., Singh, K., Santos, S. A., Herman, J. D., Bopp, S. E., Lukens, A. K., Clish, C. B., Wirth, D. F., and Mazitschek, R. . The Adaptive Proline Response in P. falciparum Is Independent of PfeIK1 and eIF2α Signaling. ACS Infect Dis. 2019; 5(4):515-520. view on PubMed
Volkman, S. K., Herman, J. D., Lukens, A. K., Hartl, D. L. . Genome Wide Association Studies of Drug-Resistance Determinants. Trends in Parasitology. 2017; 33(3):214-230. view on PubMed
Herman JD, Pepper LR, Cortese JF, Estiu G, Galinsky K, Zuzarte-Luis V, Derbyshire ER, Ribacke U, Lukens AK, Santos SA, Patel V, Clish CB, Sullivan WJ, Zhou H, Bopp SE, Schimmel P, Lindquist S, Clardy J, Mota MM, Keller TL, Whitman M, Wiest O, Wirth DF, Mazitschek R. The cytoplasmic prolyl-tRNA synthetase of the malaria parasite is a dual-stage target of febrifugine and its analogs. Sci Transl Med. 2015 May 20; 7(288):288ra77. view on PubMed
Herman JD, Rice DP, Ribacke U, Silterra J, Deik AA, Moss EL, Broadbent KM, Neafsey DE, Desai MM, Clish CB, Mazitschek R, Wirth DF. A genomic and evolutionary approach reveals non-genetic drug resistance in malaria. Genome Biol. 2014; 15(11):511. view on PubMed
Hanson, K. K., Ressurreição, A. S., Buchholz, K., Prudêncio, M., Herman-Ornelas, J. D., Rebelo, M., Rebelo, M., Beatty, W. L., Wirth, D. F., Hänscheid, T., Moreira, R., Marti, M., Mota, M. M. . Torins are potent antimalarials that block replenishment of Plasmodium liver stage parasitophorous vacuole membrane proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2013; 110(30):E2838-E2847. view on PubMed
