IDCRC Investigator Profile: Sarah George, MD
Sarah George, MD, is a professor of infectious diseases, and adjunct professor of microbiology at Saint Louis University (SLU). Her research projects center around flaviviruses, specifically the development and improvement of flavivirus vaccines (dengue, Zika, West Nile, and Yellow Fever viruses) through clinical trials and translational immunologic research. Her focus is on clinical trials with vaccines for pathogens including influenza, chikungunya, COVID-19, etc.
Dr. George currently is serving as the lead site principal investigator for the recently launched IDCRC study, "A Phase 1 Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Immunogenicity of an Inactivated West Nile Virus Vaccine, HydroVax-001B WNV in Health Adults." Read more about the study here.
How long have you worked with a VTEU?
I was involved in my first VTEU trial as site principal investigator for the 2009 influenza vaccine trial in HIV+ people. It was a privilege to be involved.
Can you share more about the current IDCRC study you're working on?
We recently started the phase one double-blind randomized West Nile vaccine (WNV) trial in healthy adults with a reformulated hydrogen peroxide-inactivated whole viral vaccine, given in three doses at one, two, and six months. There are no WNV vaccines for people, but four for horses! There are still thousands of cases of WNV disease in the U.S. every year, and with an aging population and more people on immune suppression or modulation, the number of people at risk is increasing. We hope to show the vaccine is safe and immunogenic (measuring WNV-specific neutralizing antibodies).
Briefly describe the IDCRC-supported trials you've worked on.
I have been lucky to be principal investigator (PI), co-PI or site PI on eight VTEU/IDCRC supported trials, on vaccines for influenza, pneumococcus, dengue, yellow fever, Zika (two of these), and now West Nile. I also was site PI for ACTT. I learned a lot from the whole team on each of these trials, all of them important and each of them conducted in different contexts of disease outbreaks and public health and safety concerns.
Learn more about IDCRC-support studies.
Of these trials, what has been the most impactful or highlight of the work?
This is a difficult choice, as they all matter. We conducted the first-in-human trial for the live attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine that ultimately became the Takeda vaccine, now approved in multiple countries. We tested a candidate Zika vaccine with collaborators in Puerto Rico in two different populations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. That vaccine is not licensed but is undergoing further testing at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR). I still remember the day in ACTT we had the first effective treatment for COVID-19 (remdesivir), and later we established baricitinib as a safe and effective treatment. We learned so much from all the COVID-19 studies and we continue to learn.
What is a strength or example of the importance of the IDCRC?
The IDCRC has deep experience and human knowledge to respond rapidly to public health urgencies/emergencies. The 21st century has been an age of pandemics: three coronavirus outbreaks (SARS, MERS, COVID-19), Ebola, West Nile, Yellow Fever, dengue, Chikungunya, 2009 H1N1 influenza, mpox, Zika, and ongoing HIV and cholera pandemics. There are also multiple pathogens we are watching with concern: Avian influenza, Rift vallery fever, Mayarro virus, Oropouche virus, to name only a few. Without the VTEU/IDCRC, many more people would have died of COVID-19.
This is an invaluable experience and human resources, which we strive to teach and pass on to the next generation of scientists/clinicians.
What do you like to do outside of the VTEU?
I enjoy nature walks, birding, reading, book hunting, and eating fun ethnic foods!