Andrea Cox, MD, PhD

Professional Titles

• Director, Medical Scientist Training Program

Primary Academic Title

Professor of Medicine

Background

Centers and Institutes

• Infectious Diseases Center for Viral Hepatitis Research
• Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center

Clinical Trial Keywords

HCV, HBV, COVID-19, HIV, SARS-CoV-2, viruses

Clinical Trials Summary

Dr. Cox has been a coinvestigator in clinical trials to cure HCV and HBV and of vaccines against HBV and HCV.  

Additional Academic Titles

Professor of Oncology

Research Interests

Hepatitis C virus, Immunotherapy, Protective immunity, T cell, Vaccine, Viral Immunology, Virus

Lab Website

Andrea Cox Lab - Lab Website

• Research in the Andrea Cox Lab explores the immune response in chronic viral infections, with a focus on HIV and the hepatitis C virus (HCV). In our studies, we examine the role of the immune response upon exposure to HCV by examining responses to HCV in a longitudinal, prospective group of high-risk individuals. This enables us to compare the innate, humoral and cellular immune responses to infection with clearance versus persistence. Through our findings, we seek to identify mechanisms of protective immunity against HCV infection and improve HCV vaccine design.

Research Summary

Dr. Cox’s laboratory investigates the human immune response to viral infections and vaccines against them, particularly hepatitis C virus (HCV), SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and HIV.  Her laboratory studies mechanisms through which these infections stimulate and evade immune responses and HCV vaccine development. She is the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Excellence in Pathogenesis and Immunity Center for SARS-CoV-2, investigating immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 that are protective versus pathogenic and immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines in immunocompromised and healthy people. She was the principal investigator on the first prophylactic HCV vaccine trial ever implemented in an at-risk population and is the lead immunologist on a trial of HBV vaccines in HIV infected patients.  She heads a team of international investigators dedicated to creating a vaccine to protect against chronic HCV infection.

Research Gate

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrea_Cox3

Selected Publications

• Karaba AH, Zhou W, Hsieh LL, Figueroa A, Massaccesi G, Rothman RE, Fenstermacher KZJ, Sauer L, Shaw-Saliba K, Blair PW, Robinson ML, Leung S, Wesson R, Alachkar N, El-Diwany R, Ji H, Cox AL. Differential Cytokine Signatures of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Influenza Infection Highlight Key Differences in Pathobiology. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Jan 29;74(2):254-262

• Page K, Melia MT, Veenhuis RT, Winter M, Rousseau KE, Massaccesi G, Osburn WO, Forman M, Thomas E, Thornton K, Wagner K, Vassilev V, Lin L, Lum PJ, Giudice LC, Stein E, Asher A, Chang S, Gorman R, Ghany MG, Liang TJ, Wierzbicki MR, Scarselli E, Nicosia A, Folgori A, Capone S, Cox AL. Randomized Trial of a Vaccine Regimen to Prevent Chronic HCV Infection. N Engl J Med. 2021 Feb 11;384(6):541-549

• Thompson EA, Cascino K, Ordonez AA, Zhou W, Vaghasia A, Hamacher-Brady A, Brady NR, Sun IH, Wang R, Rosenberg AZ, Delannoy M, Rothman R, Fenstermacher K, Sauer L, Shaw-Saliba K, Bloch EM, Redd AD, Tobian AAR, Horton M, Smith K, Pekosz A, D'Alessio FR, Yegnasubramanian S, Ji H, Powell JD*, Cox AL*. Metabolic programs define dysfunctional immune responses in severe COVID-19 patients. Cell Rep. 2021 Mar 16;34(11):108863. *co-corresponding authors

• Thompson EA, Ngecu W, Stoddart L, Johnston TS, Chang A, Cascino K, Alejo JL, Abedon AT, Samaha H, Rouphael N, Tobian AA, Segev DL, Werbel WA, Karaba AH, Blankson JN, Cox AL. Heterologous versus homologous boosting elicits qualitatively distinct, BA.5-cross-reactive T cells in transplant recipients. JCI Insight. 2023 May 22;8(10):e168470

• Veenhuis RT, Freeman ZT, Korleski J, Cohen LK, Massaccesi G, Tomasi A, Boesch AW, Ackerman ME, Margolick JB, Blankson JN, Chattergoon MA, Cox AL. HIV-antibody complexes enhance production of type I interferon by plasmacytoid dendritic cells. J Clin Invest. 2017 Dec 1;127(12):4352-4364

Honors

• Career Development Award, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America, Infectious Disease Society of America
• The Professors Award for Excellence in Teaching, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Member of The American Society for Clinical Investigation, 1/1/13

Graduate Program Affiliations

• Immunology
• Cellular and Molecular Medicine
• Molecular Microbiology and Immunology

Memberships

• The Infectious Disease Society of America,

  An organization that represents physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases.

• The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease,

  An organization of scientists and health care professionals committed to preventing and curing liver disease

• The American Association of Immunologists,

  An association of scientists dedicated to advancing the knowledge of immunology and its related disciplines

• The American Society for Clinical Investigation