Rogier Sanders

(Principal Investigator), Prof. PhD

19992024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research interests

Rogier Sanders specialises in designing novel antiviral vaccines and antibodies. One of his major contributions was the development of stabilised HIV-1 envelope protein vaccines, which are now in clinical phase testing. In addition, this approach allowed for the first high-resolution structures of HIV-1 envelope protein trimers, which was hailed by Science as a scientific breakthrough in 2013 and fuelled structure-based HIV-1 vaccine design around the globe. Importantly, Rogier Sanders innovative proline-based stabilisation method was later used in the development of vaccines against RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and recently SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19; indeed, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax, and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson have all incorporated this method into their development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and to date several hundreds of millions of people have received these vaccines, saving countless lives. His contribution to the rapid development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines based on his seminal work with HIV-1 was acknowledged by Dr Anthony Fauci (Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States) during a press conference at the White House in April 2021. Sanders provided a brief historical perspective in a mini-review.

Two additional applications of stabilised glycoprotein antigens are for sorting antigen-specific B cells and generating monoclonal antibodies. For example, an HIV-1 antibody co-discovered by Prof. Sanders is now in clinical testing for the prevention and treatment of HIV-1 infection. Moreover, Sanders co-discovered potently neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The general application is now used by countless labs around the world for a wide range of viruses.

 

specialisation

Virology, in particular Experimental Vaccinology

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
  • Crystal structure of the B41 SOSIP.664 Env trimer with PGT124 and 35O22 Fabs, in P63 space group

    Kumar, S. (Contributor), Sarkar, A. (Contributor), Pugach, P. (Contributor), Sanders, R. (Contributor), Moore, J. P. (Contributor), Ward, A. B. (Contributor) & Wilson, I. A. (Contributor), Protein Data Bank (PDB), 27 Feb 2019

    Dataset

  • Crystal structure of human Fab CAP256-VRC26.04, a potent V1V2-directed HIV-1 neutralizing antibody

    Doria-Rose, N. A. (Contributor), Schramm, C. A. (Contributor), Gorman, J. (Contributor), Moore, P. L. (Contributor), Bhiman, J. N. (Contributor), DeKosky, B. J. (Contributor), Ernandes, M. J. (Contributor), Georgiev, I. S. (Contributor), Kim, H. J. (Contributor), Pancera, M. (Contributor), Staupe, R. P. (Contributor), Altae-Tran, H. R. (Contributor), Bailer, R. T. (Contributor), Crooks, E. T. (Contributor), Cupo, A. (Contributor), Druz, A. (Contributor), Garrett, N. J. (Contributor), Hoi, K. H. (Contributor), Kong, R. (Contributor), Louder, M. K. (Contributor), Longo, N. S. (Contributor), McKee, K. (Contributor), Nonyane, M. (Contributor), O'Dell, S. (Contributor), Roark, R. S. (Contributor), Rudicell, R. S. (Contributor), Schmidt, S. D. (Contributor), Sheward, D. J. (Contributor), Soto, C. (Contributor), Wibmer, C. K. (Contributor), Yang, Y. (Contributor), Zhang, Z. (Contributor), Mullikin, J. C. (Contributor), Binley, J. M. (Contributor), Sanders, R. (Contributor), Wilson, I. A. (Contributor), Moore, J. P. (Contributor), Ward, A. B. (Contributor), Georgiou, G. (Contributor), Williamson, C. (Contributor), Karim, S. S. A. (Contributor), Morris, L. (Contributor), Kwong, P. D. (Contributor), Shapiro, L. (Contributor) & Mascola, J. R. (Contributor), Protein Data Bank (PDB), 26 Feb 2014

    Dataset

  • STRUCTURE OF THE UNLIGANDED ANTI-HIV ANTIBODY DH501 THAT BINDS GP120 V3 GLYCAN AND THE BASE OF V3

    Saunders, K. O. (Contributor), Nicely, N. I. (Contributor), Wiehe, K. (Contributor), Bonsignori, M. (Contributor), Meyerhoff, R. R. (Contributor), Parks, R. (Contributor), Walkowicz, W. E. (Contributor), Aussedat, B. (Contributor), Wu, N. R. (Contributor), Cai, F. (Contributor), Vohra, Y. (Contributor), Park, P. K. (Contributor), Eaton, A. (Contributor), Go, E. P. (Contributor), Sutherland, L. L. (Contributor), Scearce, R. M. (Contributor), Barouch, D. H. (Contributor), Zhang, R. (Contributor), Von Holle, T. (Contributor), Overman, R. G. (Contributor), Anasti, K. (Contributor), Sanders, R. (Contributor), Moody, M. A. (Contributor), Kepler, T. B. (Contributor), Korber, B. (Contributor), Desaire, H. (Contributor), Santra, S. (Contributor), Letvin, N. L. (Contributor), Nabel, G. J. (Contributor), Montefiori, D. C. (Contributor), Tomaras, G. D. (Contributor), Liao, H. (Contributor), Alam, S. M. (Contributor), Danishefsky, S. J. (Contributor) & Haynes, B. F. (Contributor), Protein Data Bank (PDB), 1 Mar 2017

    Dataset

  • AMC016 SOSIP.v4.2 in complex with PGV04 Fab

    Schorcht, A. (Contributor), Cottrell, C. A. (Contributor), Pugach, P. (Contributor), Ringe, R. P. (Contributor), Han, A. X. (Contributor), Allen, J. D. (Contributor), van den Kerkhof, T. L. G. M. (Contributor), Seabright, G. E. (Contributor), Schermer, E. E. (Contributor), Ketas, T. J. (Contributor), Burger, J. (Contributor), van Schooten, J. (Contributor), LaBranche, C. C. (Contributor), Ozorowski, G. (Contributor), de Val, N. (Contributor), Bader, D. L. V. (Contributor), Schuitemaker, H. (Contributor), Russell, C. A. (Contributor), Montefiori, D. C. (Contributor), van Gils, M. (Contributor), Crispin, M. (Contributor), Klasse, P. J. (Contributor), Ward, A. B. (Contributor), Moore, J. P. (Contributor) & Sanders, R. (Contributor), Protein Data Bank (PDB), 15 Sept 2021

    Dataset

  • ACS122 Fab

    van Schooten, J. (Contributor), Schorcht, A. (Contributor), Farokhi, E. (Contributor), Umotoy, J. (Contributor), Gao, H. (Contributor), van den Kerkhof, T. L. G. M. (Contributor), Dorning, J. (Contributor), Rijkhold Meesters, T. G. (Contributor), van der Woude, P. (Contributor), Burger, J. (Contributor), Bijl, T. (Contributor), Ghalaiyini, R. (Contributor), de la Peña, A. T. (Contributor), Turner, H. L. (Contributor), Labranche, C. C. (Contributor), Stanfield, R. L. (Contributor), Sok, D. (Contributor), Schuitemaker, H. (Contributor), Montefiori, D. C. (Contributor), Burton, D. R. (Contributor), Ozorowski, G. (Contributor), Seaman, M. S. (Contributor), Wilson, I. A. (Contributor), Sanders, R. (Contributor), Ward, A. B. (Contributor) & van Gils, M. (Contributor), Protein Data Bank (PDB), 2 Nov 2022

    Dataset