Javier Ignacio Sanchez-Villamil

Currently, my research focuses on the development of vaccine models against bacterial pathogens using novel technologies that are capable of rapid development, without compromising safety and efficacy. My area of expertise is described in three fundamental areas: 1) Development and evaluation of new vaccine platforms, 2) research and development of biologically relevant animal models to study infectious diseases (in Animal Biosafety Level 3, ABSL3), 3) immunogenicity tests using high-throughput equipment. In particular, our studies using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coupled to previously selected antigens by reverse vaccinology showed a potent specific humoral and cellular response against bacteria such as Burkholderia pseudomallei, B. mallei and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, protecting against lethal infection and colonization respectively in models.