Erica Ollmann Saphire

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Erica Ollmann Saphire, with photo of virus-infected cell, in 2018

Erica Ollmann Saphire is an American

Sudan, Marburg, Bundibugyo, and Lassa
.

Saphire has served as president and CEO of La Jolla Institute for Immunology since 2021.[1]

Early life and education

Saphire earned a Bachelor of Arts in

HIV-1.[3] She was an avid rugby player throughout college and graduate school, and toured twice with the United States women's national rugby union team.[4]

Career and research

After an immunology postdoctoral fellowship at Scripps Research, Saphire joined the faculty in the department of immunology as an assistant professor in 2003. She was promoted to associate professor in 2008 and full professor in 2012.[2] In 2019, joined the faculty at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology.[5]

Saphire is best known for her research on

LCMV.[6] On field work in West Africa, she followed rodents to study how they spread viruses such as Ebola and Lassa.[5] Saphire attracted national media attention in 2014 when she launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise funds for equipment to assist in research to fight Ebola virus.[5][7] She directs the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Immunotherapeutic Consortium (VIC).[6]

In 2020, Saphire was named director of the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC), an international effort to evaluate human antibodies against the novel coronavirus,

SARS-CoV-2.[8] [9] Her lab also co-led research into COVID-19 mutations with scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.[10]

In 2021, Saphire was appointed president and CEO of La Jolla Institute for Immunology. She succeeded Dr. Mitchell Kronenberg, who had served as institute president since 2003. Saphire is the institute's fifth president and is the first woman to serve in that role.[11]

Awards

Saphire received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the Global Virus Network's Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership.[6] She received the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's Young Investigator Award in 2015.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Erica Ollmann Saphire appointed president and CEO of La Jolla Institute for Immunology". lji.org. La Jolla Institute for Immunology. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Erica Ollmann Saphire, PhD". Scripps Research. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Kuo, Maggie (March 2015). "Saphire, a 'leading light in molecular biology and human health'". American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  4. San Diego Union-Tribune
    . Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  5. ^
    San Diego Union-Tribune
    . Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Leading Structural Immunologist Erica Ollmann Saphire will join La Jolla Institute for Immunology". La Jolla Institute for Immunology. February 25, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  7. ^ Perry, Tony (October 12, 2014). "Ebola researcher turns to crowdfunding for help in finding cure". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Mento, Tarryn (April 11, 2020). "La Jolla Institute Leading Global Hunt For Antibodies To Coronavirus". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  9. ^ "La Jolla Institute Gets $1M Gift for COVID Research". San Diego Business Journal. August 5, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  10. PMID 32697968
    .
  11. ^ "Erica Ollmann Saphire appointed president and CEO of La Jolla Institute for Immunology". lji.org. La Jolla Institute for Immunology. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
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