Kanta Subbarao, M.B., B.S., M.P.H.

Senior Investigator

Dr. Subbarao received her M.B. and B.S. in 1982 from the Christian Medical College, Vellore, University of Madras, India, and completed a residency in pediatrics at Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital for Children at St. Louis University. She completed a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases and earned an M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. After postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (LID), NIAID, she served on the faculty at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and subsequently served as chief of the Molecular Genetics Section of the Influenza Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Subbarao joined the LID as a senior investigator in 2002.

Description of Research Program

Our research is focused on the development of vaccines against pandemic strains of influenza and the development of animal models and evaluation of vaccines against the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus.

Influenza investigations aim to

• Identify and prioritize potential pandemic strains of influenza to target for vaccine development
• Generate attenuated vaccine viruses by reassortment or after modifying virulence determinants, if necessary by plasmid-based reverse genetics
• Address questions of viral antigenicity including evaluation of genetic and antigenic relatedness and cross-protection between avian influenza viruses
• Evaluate candidate vaccine viruses in preclinical studies in animal models
• Conduct clinical evaluation of suitable candidate vaccines to establish safety, immunogenicity, and infectivity of live attenuated vaccines

The SARS research program is developing animal models for SARS in order to understand the pathogenesis of the disease and evaluate candidate vaccines. Investigations are planned or underway to

• Develop mouse and hamster models of SARS virus replication and disease
• Assess nonhuman primates as models for SARS
• Study viral pathogenesis and immune responses in animal models
• Evaluate vaccines and immunotherapy in animal models
• Conduct clinical evaluation of suitable candidate vaccines

Selected Publications

(View list in PubMed.)

Subbarao K, Klimov A, Katz J, Regnery H, Lim W, Hall H, Perdue M, Swayne D, Bender C, Huang J, Hemphill M, Rowe T, Shaw M, Xu X, Fukuda K, Cox N. Characterization of an avian influenza A (H5N1) virus isolated from a child with a fatal respiratory illness. Science. 1998. 279: 393-396.

Lin YP, Shaw M, Gregory V, Cameron K, Lim W, Klimov A, Subbarao K, Guan Y, Krauss S, Shortridge K, Webster R, Cox N, Hay A. Avian-to-human transmission of H9N2 subtype influenza A viruses- relationship between H9N2 and H5N1 human isolates. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2000. 97: 9654-9658.

K Subbarao, H Chen, D Swayne, L Mingay, E Fodor, G Brownlee, X Xu, X Lu, J Katz, N Cox and Y Matsuoka. Evaluation of a genetically modified reassortant H5N1 influenza A virus vaccine candidate generated by plasmid-based reverse genetics. Virology. 2003. 305: 192-200.

H Chen, K Subbarao, D Swayne, Q Chen, X Lu, J Katz, N Cox, Y Matsuoka. Generation and evaluation of an influenza A/H9N2 high-growth reassortant virus as a pandemic vaccine candidate. Vaccine. 2003. 21: 1974-1979.

H Chen, Y Matsuoka, D Swayne, Q Chen, NJ Cox, BR Murphy, K Subbarao. Generation and characterization of a cold-adapted influenza A H9N2 reassortant as a live virus vaccine candidate. Vaccine. 2003. 21: 4430-4436.

K Subbarao, J McAuliffe, L Vogel, G Fahle, S Fischer, K Tatti, M Packard, W-J Shieh, S Zaki, B Murphy. Prior infection and passive transfer of neutralizing antibody prevent replication of SARS coronavirus in the respiratory tract of mice. J Virol. 2004. 78(7): 3572-3577.

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