Anna Durbin Honored by Butantan Institute

Anna Durbin, MD, associate professor in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, was among 12 scientists and health professionals recognized earlier this month by the Butantan Institute, one of Brazil’s leading biomedical research centers and developers of vaccines.

Honorees were recognized for their contributions to the field of biomedical research and to the Institute, which in addition to supporting the development of vaccinations, distributes free vaccines to patients in Sao Paulo and its environs.

Durbin’s research involves the evaluation of experimental vaccines in human clinical trials, including vaccines against HIV, hepatitis C, human papilloma virus, influenza, rotavirus, and respiratory syncytial virus. Durbin has a special interest in vaccines against dengue viruses and malaria, and has conducted clinical trials involving dengue virus vaccines at the school’s Center for Immunization Research and malaria vaccines at the school’s clinical site in Washington, D.C. She is especially interested in studying the immunopathogenesis of dengue infection and disease, with the hope of understanding the viral, host and immunologic factors causing severe dengue illness. In addition to her clinical studies, Durbin’s laboratory is developing an animal model of dengue.

The awards were presented by Jorge Kalil, director of the Butantan Institute, at the Palacio dos Bandeirantes in Sao Paulo.

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health media contact: Tim Parsons at 410-955-7619 or tmparson@jhsph.edu.