John LaPorte Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Chair, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
My laboratory focuses on the molecular basis of population heterogeneity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and the extent to which differences between mycobacterial cells contribute to differences in disease and treatment outcomes. Our work combines bacterial genetic approaches with high throughput methodologies including population genomics, ssRNAseq and quantitative live cell imaging to define the molecular mechanisms by which Mtb generates diversity and how this diversity enables the bacterium to survive subsequent selective forces including antibiotics and immune selection. We further seek to understand the impact of host immune responses on the interaction of Mtb with the infected host, again working at both single cell and genomic levels. My work engages a broad network of collaborators including experts in technologies to assess single cell behavior at MIT and MGH, experts in sequencing methodologies at the Broad Institute and experts in human immunology at the Ragon Institute, where I am the outgoing Director of the TB Program.
B.S., 1990, Biology
Yale University
M.D., 1996, Medicine
Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons
2000, 3years Internship/Residency in Internal Medicine
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
2001, 1year Clinical Fellowship in Infectious Diseases
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Post Doc, 2006, Immunology & Infectious Diseases - 5years Postdoctoral Fellow
HSPH
Junior Faculty Mentoring Award
Harvard School of Public Health
John LaPorte Given Professor
Harvard School of Public Health
Alice B. Hamilton Award
Harvard School of Public Health
Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases
Burroughs Welcome Foundation
Melvin and Geraldine Glimcher Associate Professorship
Harvard School of Public Health
Science and Public Leadership Fellow
PopTech
Clinical Scientist Development Award
Doris Duke
Early Career Award
Hood Foundation
Early Career Award
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
New Innovator Award
National Institute of Health
The Maxwell Finland Award for Excellence in Research
Mass. Infectious Disease Society
The Maxwell Finland Award for Excellence in Research, Mass. Infectious Disease Society
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
Teaching Award for Residents in Internal Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Alpha Omega Alpha
Phi Beta Kappa
Medical Student Fellowship for Return to Medical Studies
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Medical Student Research Fellowship
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
B.S. Summa Cum Laude
Yale
Community Service Award
Yale
Spatola M, Nziza N, Irvine EB, Cizmeci D, Jung W, Van LH, Nhat LTH, Ha VTN, Phu NH, Ho DTN, Thwaites GE, Lauffenburger DA, Fortune S, Thuong NTT, Alter G.
Brain. 2024 Sep 03. 147(9):3247-3260. PMID: 38442687
Bromley JD, Ganchua SKC, Nyquist SK, Maiello P, Chao M, Borish HJ, Rodgers M, Tomko J, Kracinovsky K, Mugahid D, Nguyen S, Wang QD, Rosenberg JM, Klein EC, Gideon HP, Floyd-O'Sullivan R, Berger B, Scanga CA, Lin PL, Fortune SM, Shalek AK, Flynn JL.
Immunity. 2024 Aug 29. PMID: 39214090
Irvine EB, Nikolov A, Khan MZ, Peters JM, Lu R, Sixsmith J, Wallace A, van Woudenbergh E, Shin S, Karpinski W, Hsiao JC, Casadevall A, Bryson BD, Cavacini L, Grace PS, Alter G, Fortune SM.
Nat Microbiol. 2024 Sep. 9(9):2369-2382. PMID: 39174703
Balasingam S, Dheda K, Fortune S, Gordon SB, Hoft D, Kublin JG, Loynachan CN, McShane H, Morton B, Nambiar S, Sharma NR, Robertson B, Schrager LK, Weller CL.
J Infect Dis. 2024 Aug 16. 230(2):e457-e464. PMID: 38709726
Deng MZ, Liu Q, Cui SJ, Wang YX, Zhu G, Fu H, Gan M, Xu YY, Cai X, Wang S, Sha W, Zhao GP, Fortune SM, Lyu LD.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Aug 20. 121(34):e2322938121. PMID: 39141351
Simonson AW, Zeppa JJ, Bucsan AN, Chao MC, Pokkali S, Hopkins F, Chase MR, Vickers AJ, Sutton MS, Winchell CG, Myers AJ, Ameel CL, Kelly R, Krouse B, Hood LE, Li J, Lehman CC, Kamath M, Tomko J, Rodgers MA, Donlan R, Chishti H, Jacob Borish H, Klein E, Scanga CA, Fortune S, Lin PL, Maiello P, Roederer M, Darrah PA, Seder RA, Flynn JL.
bioRxiv. 2024 May 17. PMID: 38798646
McRae TM, Volpov BL, Sidrow E, Fortune SME, Auger-Méthé M, Heckman N, Trites AW.
PLoS One. 2024. 19(5):e0302758. PMID: 38748652
Stanley S, Spaulding CN, Liu Q, Chase MR, Ha DTM, Thai PVK, Lan NH, Thu DDA, Quang NL, Brown J, Hicks ND, Wang X, Marin M, Howard NC, Vickers AJ, Karpinski WM, Chao MC, Farhat MR, Caws M, Dunstan SJ, Thuong NTT, Fortune SM.
Lancet Microbe. 2024 Jun. 5(6):e570-e580. PMID: 38734030
Davies LRL, Wang C, Steigler P, Bowman KA, Fischinger S, Hatherill M, Fisher M, Mbandi SK, Rodo M, Ottenhoff THM, Dockrell HM, Sutherland JS, Mayanja-Kizza H, Boom WH, Walzl G, Kaufmann SHE, Nemes E, Scriba TJ, Lauffenburger D, Alter G, Fortune SM.
Nat Microbiol. 2024 Jun. 9(6):1513-1525. PMID: 38658786
Bei C, Zhu J, Culviner PH, Gan M, Rubin EJ, Fortune SM, Gao Q, Liu Q.
Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 10. 15(1):3088. PMID: 38600064
As new cases of bird flu and other infectious diseases continue to raise concern, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers share their perspectives on recognizing, preparing for, and managing future outbreaks.
Researchers have discovered a new form of altered drug susceptibility—dubbed antibiotic resilience—that enables Mycobacterium tuberculosis to survive antibiotic treatment.
To mark World TB Day, March 24, Harvard Chan School's Sarah Fortune, a TB expert, discusses the state of the disease worldwide, obstacles to fighting it, and the latest research.
Several countries have authorized second booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine, but concerns have recently been raised about whether this is a useful approach.
Kizzmekia Corbett, assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard Chan School, was named one of the 2021 Bostonians of the Year by the Boston Globe for her pioneering research aimed at developing a COVID-19 vaccine and…
