Simon M Barratt-Boyes

Contributions to Public Health 

• In collaboration with researchers at Pitt and the NIH, I developed the first translational model of severe H5N1 influenza in nonhuman primates that reproduces the pathology and clinical disease seen in humans infected with avian influenza virus. Using this model we have evaluated candidate universal vaccines and antibodies to protect against severe disease in humans. This work has identified novel preventative approaches to be used in the event of a human influenza pandemic.  
• In collaboration with investigators in IDM and Pitt, I developed a human skin model to study dengue, an important mosquito-borne viral infection. We showed that European ancestry is associated with a marked inflammatory response to infection that promotes virus replication and spread. In contrast, African ancestry skin has a far weaker inflammatory response that limits replication. This helps explain the finding that African ancestry protects against severe dengue, a conundrum in the field for decades.
  • Kanekiyo M, Gillespie RA, Cooper K, Canedo VG, Castanha PMS, Pegu A, Yang ES, Treaster L, Yun G, Wallace M, Kettenburg G, Williams C, Lundy J, Barrick S, O’Malley K, Midgett M, Martí MM, Chavva H, Corry J, Treat B, Lipinski A, Batsche LO, Creanga A, Ritter I, Walker R, Olsen E, Laughlin A, Perez DR, Mascola JR, Boritz EA, Loo Y-M, Blair W, Esser M, Graham BS, Reed DS, Barratt-Boyes SM (2025). Pre-exposure antibody prophylaxis protects macaques from severe influenza disease. Science, 387: 534-541
  • Malouli D, Tiwary M, Gilbride RM, Morrow D, Hughes CM, Selseth A, Penney T, Castanha PMS, Wallace M, Midgett M, Martí MM, Williams C, Reed J, Yu Y, Gao L, Yun G, Treaster L, Laughlin A, Lundy J, Tisoncik-Go J, Whitmore LS, Aye PP, Schiro F, Dufour JP, Papen CR, Taher H, Picker LJ, Fruh K, Gale M, Maness NJ, Hansen SG, Barratt-Boyes SM, Reed DS, Sacha JB (2024). Cytomegalovirus vaccine vector-induced effector memory CD4+ T cells protect cynomolgus macaques from lethal aerosolized heterologous avian influenza. Nat Comm, 15: 6007.
  • Kanekiyo M, Gillespie RA, Midgett M, O’Malley KJ, Williams C, Moin SM, Wallace M, Treaster L, Cooper K, Syeda HZ, Kettenburg G, Rannulu H, Obadan A, Castanha PMS, Corry J, Olsen E, Perez D, Yun G, Graham BS, Barratt-Boyes SM, Reed DS (2023). Refined semi-lethal aerosol H5N1 influenza model in cynomolgus macaques for evaluation of medical countermeasures. iScience, 26: 107830.
  • Mannar D, Saville J, Sun Z, Zhu X, Marti MM, Srivastava S, ABerezuk AM, Zhou S, Tuttle KS, Sobolewski MD, Kim A, Treat BR, Castanha PMS, Jacobs JL, Barratt-Boyes SM, Mellors JW, Dimitrov D, Li W, and Subramaniam S (2022). SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: Spike protein mutational analysis and epitope for broad neutralization. Nat Comm, 13(1): 4696.